It was a tough blow for Ramsay, not being able to play football anymore. But, in cooking, he found solace. At the age of 19, Ramsay went to work as a commis chef at the Roxbury House Hotel. Subsequently, he went to work at the Wickham Arms, where he was placed in charge of his first kitchen and its 60-seat dining room.
Discovering his passion for the art, Ramsay decided to move to London, where he knew his chances of career advancement would be greater. He floated around from restaurant to restaurant before finally going to work for the well known Marco Pierre White at Harvey’s. He stayed there for two years before getting tired of “the rages and the bullying and violence” from White.
Ramsay left Harvey’s and decided to his make his niche in French cuisine. White encouraged Ramsay to go to work for Le Gavroche in Mayfair under the direction of Albert Roux. He worked there for no more than a year before Roux asked Ramsay to be his right-hand man at his Hotel Diva, a ski resort in the French Alps. Ramsay jumped at the opportunity.
After learning what he could from Roux, Ramsay left to go work in Paris under various Michelin-starred chefs. He stayed in France for three years, but found the stress to be too much for him. And so, he decided to take time off from the high-end restaurants of France and work as a personal chef on a private yacht off the shores of Bermuda.
One year later, Ramsay returned to London to become the head chef at La Tante Clair in Chelsea. It would be the start of a long and successful career for the young chef. His former boss, Marco White, then offered him the head chef position and a 25 percent stake in the Rossmore. It was here where Ramsay earned his first two Michelin stars. In 1997, however, Ramsay left the restaurant after a disagreement with its owner.
Now, Ramsay decided it was time for him to start his own business. In 1998, thanks in large part to financial backing from his father-in-law, Ramsay opened his own restaurant in Chelsea called Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road. In three years, the restaurant had no less than three Michelin stars, a first for any Scot.
From there, he opened Petrus, a restaurant that gained notoriety in 2001 when six bankers spent over ₤44,000 on wine during a single meal. Next came Amaryllis in Glasgow, Gordon Ramsay in Mayfair, and two other restaurants in the UK. In 2005, he took his growing empire international by opening two restaurants in Tokyo and later in New York City, Boca Raton, and Los Angeles.
In 2006, Ramsay expanded his empire by purchasing two pubs in London. He also ventured into the world of television by starring in two documentaries, “Boiling Point,” and “Beyond Boiling Point.” From there, he created “Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares,” and the reality show “Hell’s Kitchen”, both of which have since been picked up by FOX network in the U.S. Ramsay has also launched a series called “The F-Word,” a food-based magazine show in which all of his live ingredients were mockingly named after other famous chefs.
In addition to running Gordon Ramsay Holdings, Ramsay also serves as an independent consultant, has made guest appearances on everything from CNN to The Simpsons, and has written thirteen popular cookbooks. He has been called the most influential person in the UK hospitality industry, and at 6’2, his size-15 shoes are hard ones to fill.
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