Multi-Michelin-starred Gordon Ramsay sharpened his knives, and his tongue, for more explosive outbursts and tough love in his fourth six-part series of BAFTA award-winning and Emmy-nominated Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
You're a restaurant owner in crisis. The wolves are at the door, but the punters aren't. Enter Gordon Ramsay, the most feared and revered chef in Britain today, with his potent recipe of passion, perfectionism and inspirational leadership. Gordon has just one week to turn each business around. In this series, Ramsay unleashes his trademark mix of abrasive straight-talking with inspirational leadership on four more restaurants in crisis. Plus Gordon revisits two old favourites he's helped in the past.
Scottish by birth, Gordon was brought up in England after his parents moved south to Stratford-upon-Avon. His first career break came whilst playing football for Oxford United when he was spotted by a Glasgow Rangers scout in an FA youth club match.
After completing trials he was signed by the Scottish champions at the age of 15. Three years later he had given up professional football and gone back to college to complete a HND course in hotel management. Gordon moved to London where he joined Marco Pierre White in the early days of Harvey's in Wandsworth.
After a couple of years Gordon moved to Le Gavroche to work alongside Albert Roux. This was followed by three years of working in France in the kitchens of Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon. Here he was able to enhance his expertise in classic French cooking.
In October 1993, Gordon became chef of the newly-opened Aubergine which won many accolades, including two Michelin stars within three years of opening.
Gordon's first book, Passion for Flavour, was published in 1996. His second book, Passion for Seafood, was published in 1999. A Chef for all Seasons was published in 2000, followed by Just Desserts in 2001 and Secrets in 2003. Kitchen Heaven and Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy were published in 2005. Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch And Other Recipes From The F Word, was published in May 2006, and Gordon's autobiography Humble Pie was released in October 2006.
Gordon first appeared on TV in the fly-on-the-wall documentary Boiling Point in 1998 and re-appeared in Beyond Boiling Point in 2000. He was back with a vengeance in 2004, with the first series of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen. Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares returned for a second series in 2005, the same year as Gordon's magazine-style food show the The F-Word arrived. As well as taking Hell's Kitchen to the US, Gordon returned in Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares for double helpings in 2006.
In 1998, at the age of 31, Gordon set up his first wholly-owned restaurant, called Gordon Ramsay, in Chelsea. On 19 January 2001, the restaurant gained its third Michelin star. In the same year, it was voted 'Top Restaurant in UK' by the London Zagat survey and named 'Best Fine Dining Restaurant' in the Harden's guide. In 2002 and 2003 it was named as one of the five best restaurants in the world in a poll run by Restaurant Magazine.
In 1999 he opened Pétrus, with his protegé Marcus Wareing as chef patron, in St James's. Within seven months it had won a Michelin star.
In 2001 he opened Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, which gained a Michelin star in 2003.
In 2002 Gordon Ramsay Holdings Limited took over the food and drink operation at The Connaught Hotel, a member of the Savoy Group. In 2004 'Menu' at The Connaught won its first Michelin star.
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