Early life

Ramsay was born on 8 November 1966[7] in Johnstone, Renfrewshire.[8] From the age of five, he was raised in Stratford-upon-Avon.[8] Ramsay is the second of four children. He has an older sister, Diane; a younger brother, Ronnie, who Ramsay revealed had been imprisoned for heroin possession as a juvenile;[9] and a younger sister, Yvonne. Ramsay's father, Gordon James Sr.,[10] was—at various times—a swimming pool manager, a welder, and a shopkeeper; his sister Yvonne and their mother, Helen (née Cosgrove),[10] have been nurses.[11] Ramsay has described his early life as "hopelessly itinerant" and said his family moved constantly due to the aspirations and failures of his father, who was a sometimes violent alcoholic.[10] In 1976, they finally settled in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he grew up in the Bishopton area of the town.[9] In his autobiography, Humble Pie, he describes his early life as being marked by abuse and neglect from this "hard-drinking womaniser".[11][12] At the age of 16, Ramsay moved out of the family home and into a flat in Banbury.[13]

Ramsay played football and was first chosen to play under-14 football at age 12. He was chosen to play for Warwickshire. His footballing career was marked by injuries, causing him to remark later in life, "Perhaps I was doomed when it came to football."[11] In mid-1984, Ramsay had a trial with Rangers, the club he supported as a boy. He seriously injured his knee, smashing the cartilage during training.[14] Ramsay continued to train and play on the injured knee, tearing a cruciate ligament during a squash game. Ramsay has claimed to have played two first team games for Rangers.[15] According to his autobiography Ramsay played "a couple of non-league matches as a trialist" for Rangers[16] and was signed by the club at the age of 15.[17] Allan Cairns, the photographer who took a picture of Ramsay playing for Rangers in September 1985, said the photo was not one of Rangers first team but a side picked to play a testimonial match. A Rangers spokesman said: "Ramsay was a trialist in that testimonial game. He trained with us for a few months after that but then got injured."[18] Rangers revisited In series 4, episode 12 of The F Word (originally aired on 29 July 2008), Ramsay visited Ibrox, the home ground of his favourite childhood team, Rangers, and exclaimed, "Home, Sweet Home!" He explained, "My dream came true when I was spotted in the mid-80s and I joined the youth team here in Ibrox." He related that one of his fondest memories is playing alongside one of Scotland's football legends, Ally McCoist, who said about Ramsay, "I remember him well and the one thing that never ever will change is that he's a competitive so-and-so and wants to do and be the best that he can." Ramsay recalled that, "the pain of being released on the back of an injury" was only assuaged many years later, "after receiving [his] third Michelin Star", and concluded that, "without the upset at Ibrox, I would not be the chef I am today."[19]

Early cooking career

Head chef

Awards

Gordon Ramsay Holdings

All of Ramsay's business interests (restaurants, media, consultancy) are held in the company Gordon Ramsay Holdings Limited, which was run in partnership with his father-in-law, Chris Hutcheson. Ramsay owns a 69% stake, valued at £67 million in 2007.[42] Whereas previous ventures acted as a combined consultant/brand, in November 2006 Ramsay announced plans to create three restaurants in the United States. These opened in 2006/2007 at: Gordon Ramsay at the London Hotel in Manhattan, New York, October 2006 [28]

Gordon Ramsay at the Cielo in Boca Raton, Florida

Gordon Ramsay at the London Hotel in West Hollywood, California

Gordon Ramsay at the Mirabelle in London In late 2006 Gordon Ramsay Holdings purchased three London pubs which he converted into gastropubs. These are: The Narrow in Limehouse, which opened in March 2007, the Devonshire in Chiswick, which opened in October 2007 and The Warrington in Maida Vale, which opened in February 2008. Both The Devonshire and The Warrington were subsequently sold in 2011 (The Warrington to pub company Faucet Inn).[43] Ramsay acts as a consultant to numerous catering organisations, and was recruited by Singapore Airlines as one of its "International Culinary Panel" consultants.[44] In May 2008, it was confirmed that Ramsay's protege of 15 years, Marcus Wareing, was going solo, having opened and operated Pétrus at The Berkeley Hotel on behalf of Gordon Ramsay Holdings since 2003.[45] With the name Pétrus owned by Gordon Ramsay Holdings, industry sources suggested it was likely to transfer to another restaurant in the group with the former La Noisette site identified as the most likely.[46] In April 2010, Jason Atherton, executive chef of Maze restaurants worldwide, resigned to open his own venue in Mayfair.[47] On 19 October 2010, the company Gordon Ramsay Holdings Limited announced that Chris Hutcheson had left his position as CEO of Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd. Shortly after, Ramsay released a letter to the press describing how he had unravelled the "manipulative" Hutcheson's "complex life" after having him followed by a private detective. His father-in-law's "away days," wrote Ramsay, "were rarely what I thought they were." Company accounts show Hutcheson borrowed up to £1.5 million from Gordon Ramsay Holdings, of which he was chief executive, though he says he reported the borrowings to the company and paid the money back. Hutcheson said he had been "vaporised" and subjected to a "public hanging" by Ramsay, whom he described as a friendless egotist.[48] In April 2017 Hutcheson pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to hack into the computers of Gordon Ramsay Holdings Limited.[49] In October 2012, Ramsay opened The Fat Cow in Los Angeles, US at The Grove, a shopping area that is also popular with tourists.[50] Ramsay explained his intention for the Fat Cow in a press release to signify the opening of the venue: "The concept for The Fat Cow came from my desire to have a neighbourhood restaurant that you could go to all the time to just relax and enjoy a terrific meal."[51] In partnership with footballer David Beckham, Ramsay opened the Union Street Café in the Southwark district of London, UK in September 2013. The Italian cuisine of the Union Street Café, with a menu that is revolved on a daily basis, is overseen by Chef Davide Degiovanni.[52] In October 2013, the Gordon Ramsay at The London restaurant in New York lost its two Michelin stars due to issues encountered by the Michelin reviewers. The guide's director Michael Ellis stated that he was served "some very erratic meals" and also experienced "issues with consistency." The loss follows the closure of another of Ramsay's restaurants in June 2013.[53] In January 2014, Ramsay lost a high court case in relation to the "York & Albany pub." Ramsay claimed that his father-in-law had misused a 'ghost writing' machine to make a personal guarantor for the £640,000 a year annual rent of that pub. Ramsay tried to nullify the 25-year lease, signed in 2007. The judge said that Ramsay had known from the guarantee beforehand but that he had total trust in his father-in-law, Christopher Hutcheson, and left the deal with him. The judge dismissed the case and ordered Ramsay to pay all legal costs and outstanding monies, in total more than one million pounds.[54]

Television

Public image and reception

Personal life

Restaurants owned or operated by Ramsay

Filmography

Television appearances

Bibliography

See also

Notes

^ Originally known as Gordon Ramsay BurGR

References