Gordon Ramsay’s “F” Class, Absofuckinglutely Michelin Starred
Gordon Ramsay’s official website is nothing like the man we watch on TV, cursing and yelling every other minute. The website is definitely a work of class, stylish and worthy of a Michelin starred chef. Too bad that the man behind the business doesn’t exhibit the same class as his PR workers, who strive to paint an image for the posh. If you read the man’s biography you are awed by his accomplishments; by how many restaurants he runs; by how many Michelin stars he earned (16); and by the many, many accolades received during his career. This is a chef acclaimed by the whole world, and adulated by all aspiring young chefs I’ve ever met, from Nyhavns Færgekro’s Agata Krajewska in Copenhagen, to the local German aspirants.
But if the same man appears on public television, well… lock your youngsters in their rooms, for you will have a big surprise. The man on the screen cannot possibly be the same who runs the only three Michelin starred restaurant in London! The TV star is a man with no respect for the English language, whose epithets are coarse (revolving around stools and intercourse) and whose attitude towards those who have to learn from him is aggressive and disrespectful.
Despite the attitude, Ramsay retains an amazing fan club, faithful employees and the undisputed respect of his colleagues (although some still swear that he is “a really second-rate human being.” The general impression of Midas in disguise, pales at the rise of the most recent news, from New York: “Gordon Ramsay has had to abandon his dreams of conquering New York, quietly selling off his flagship foreign restaurant after three years of money problems.” – The Telegraph reports. Maybe for the New Yorkers manners and language matter more than Ramsay’s culinary genius? And from the same report we learn that:
New York Post restaurant critic Steve Cuozzo wrote that Ramsay was “once a great chef. Then he became a great businessman. Today he’s more like a great big clown – with daily headline embarrassments of one sort or another – from a blabbering ex-mistress to an infantile feud with Mario Batali [co-owner of one of New York’s most successful restaurants].”
I admire Ramsay a great deal, but I am still puzzled by his success. Don’t take this wrong, I have no doubts that the man is a culinary genius. But as far as choosing to dine in one of the venues he runs… I think I’ll pass, regardless what culinary delight I might be missing. And apparently I am not the only one…
“… half of the 20 restaurants taken on by Ramsay in the US have closed. A further 12 out of 22 eateries in the UK that received the Ramsay treatment, over five series of the show, have now either shut or been sold.”
So what’s the problem, in the end? A matter of PR, a matter of bad PR. The website, dust in the eyes of the believers, presenting a fantasy creature, a sophisticated human being who cooks. Well, the truth is in the video above, and in the DUI and gross indecency accusations collected in his private life. He is the human being you see in the video, so why are his PRs trying to sell a golden polished image? The change has to start with the man: a bit more class, more human decency, some respect for the audience for Tammuz’s sake!
May we humbly suggest he may be well served by hiring a PR Agency – among those for his ilk Everything PR recommends would be Baltz PR (for a foodie need), New York City classic agencies like Kaplow PR or Alison Brod PR or perhaps even Zeno Group or Hunter PR.
