10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT GORDON RAMSAY
10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT GORDON RAMSAY
If there’s madness in genius, Gordon Ramsay should be given the award for it, already. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Gordon Ramsay has dominated the celebrity chef world for years.
Starting out in his 20s, he quickly made a name for himself as a chef and then later found his way to our TVs. His fiery temper and scathing comments to tearful contestants on “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Masterchef,” as well as hapless restaurant owners on “Kitchen Nightmares,” have made for satisfying if terribly stressful — entertainment. Gordon Ramsay is the second-richest chef in the world and is known for his colorful word choices on many TV shows. He currently owns 35 restaurants across the world and has a net worth of over $60 million. But there’s more to Ramsay than snarling insults and an unchecked barrage of F-bombs. The Hell’s Kitchen celebrity chef might be famous for his fiery temper and his bitter insults, but not a lot of people know about his life struggles. He grew up on the ‘backstreets’ of London and had a pretty rough childhood.
Groomed by a hardworking mother who was a cook and an alcoholic father, he claims that it was the “backstreets” of Britain that pushed him to succeed.
Keep hearing to find out some little-known facts about the hot-tempered chef-turned-TV-personality.
- His First Career Choice Was Professional Soccer Player
Like many young British boys, Ramsay originally aspired to be a professional soccer player. He has even claimed in the past that he played for Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers team until a knee injury snuffed out his pro-soccer-playing gooooooaaals. At the age of 15, Ramsay joined professional football club the Glasgow Rangers and played with the team for three years.
2. He’s a black belt in karate
He’s a black belt in karate and not afraid to throw a punch for his protection. In an interview with the magazine ‘Playboy’, Gordon talked about his experience with a Hell’s Kitchen contestant who tried to hit him and said, “I have a black belt in karate. I love boxing. I can look out for myself.” Anyone who can’t verbally spar with Ramsay in the kitchen probably won’t want to challenge him to a physical fight either, as the chef is trained in martial arts and even has a black belt in karate.
3. There Is One Kind Of Food He Refuses To Eat
Although the chef has said that he’s open to trying any food once, there is one type of food he will not touch: airplane food (not to be confused with Ramsay’s restaurant, Plane Food, at Heathrow Airport in London). “I worked for airlines for 10 years, so I know where this food’s been and where it goes, and how long it took before it got on board,” he told Refinery29. However, Ramsay makes sure to never go hungry on a long-haul flight by eating beforehand.
4. He Has His Own Video Games
If watching Ramsay shriek at people on TV simply isn’t enough for you, check out these virtual worlds in which you can interact with the chef. For Nintendo Wii, there is a “Hell’s Kitchen” game, which features a depiction of Ramsay so lifelike that it may actually scare you. Or try Ramsay’s mobile game, Restaurant DASH, in which players use their virtual culinary skills and restaurant management prowess to become “the next rising star chef” all under Ramsay’s stern mentorship. For those who thrive under pressure, these games are for you.
5. There Are Five Things He Thinks Everyone Should Be Able To Cook
You don’t need to be a world-class chef at home, but Ramsay believes there are five dishes everyone should learn how to cook. These include a great burger, a good breakfast, a chicken dish, a braising dish (the kind of thing “you can cook on a Monday and still eat on Friday,” he told curious Reddit users), and a great cake.
6. Affordable Food
Now we’re sure that you’d expect Ramsay’s price list to be quite high when dining at any one of his establishments. After all, he is the biggest star the industry has seen since Wolfgang Puck. But you’d be pleasantly surprised to hear that his prices are downright affordable.
In actual fact, the prices for his food are not only affordable but at times, rather cheap.
Some examples include: At Gordon Ramsay Burger in Las Vegas, his Blue Burger is listed at 14$, his Chanterelle Burger is listed at 15$ and his Hell’s Kitchen Burger is listed at 13$. Not bad at all.
7. He has been married to his wife Tana for 23 years
Gordon and Tana Ramsay have been married since December 21, 1996. They are well-known philanthropists. The Gordon and Tana Ramsay Foundation helps to support the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity to “give some of the sickest children the best chance in life,” according to the chef’s website. Ramsay’s five children are Megan, 22, twins Holly Anna and Jack, both 20, Matilda, 18, a budding chef herself, Matilda is known for her own cooking show, “Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch,” which aired its fifth season this past summer. Still, Ramsay shocked the world when he told the Telegraph that he would not be leaving a penny of his many millions to his children in his will. “[My money is] definitely not going to them, and that’s not in a mean way; it’s to not spoil them,” he said.
8. Aubergine — HIS FIRST RESTAURANT
In his late teens, Ramsay played soccer and then also at the professional collegiate level. Unfortunately, this career option was taken away from him at 19 when he injured his knee. With his dreams of playing professional soccer over, he then turned his attention to yet another passion of his, the kitchen.
He studied at North Oxfordshire Technical College. His actual certification is in Hotel management and not the culinary arts. But regardless, his first job was as a Commis de Cuisine at Wroxton House Hotel and he worked his way up the culinary ladder rather impressively, paying his many dues at many other locations.
It would be in 1993 that he would own a significant part of his very first restaurant, Aubergine.
9. Ramsay and David Beckham are family friends.
The celebrity chef and former professional soccer player have been friends for years, and even almost opened a restaurant together. Their families are also really close, but Ramsay has said that his kids are forbidden to date anyone from the Beckham clan.
10. 45 ESTABLISHMENTS TO HIS NAME
There are indeed many professional chefs that take that courageous leap from just
being a chef to actually owning one, or many establishments. Perhaps it is the dream of many chefs to one day work only for themselves.
The problem is a lot of chefs can’t handle the temperaments of many of the grizzly owners in the business, so they wish to branch out on their own. So was the case for this gentleman, as it didn’t take him long to move from chef to restaurateur. The move took courage, but he did it. In his long and illustrious career as a restaurateur, he has owned and operated a whopping amount of eateries all around the world, 45 restaurants to be exact! Ramsay was tied with Beyonce as the 34th highest-earning celebrity in the world. Owning this much fortune doesn’t stop him from working more. In a recent Reddit takeover, Gordon talked about his hectic work schedule and said, “I work incredibly hard. I have about three to four hours a day off and I work my freaking’ ass off because I get so excited with projects!” He also runs a charitable foundation along with his wife Tana.
