Is Chef Gordon Ramsay’s Celebrity Flame Starting To Flicker?

A recent article in the Guardian UK highlighted some of the recent challenges that Chef Ramsay’s Empire is experiencing…declining restaurant ratings, family dissension and waning enthusiasm for his TV shows could spell trouble for the hot tempered chef.

It has been known in the industry for the past couple of years that his restaurant empire was stumbling with P&L profitability. However this year it looks as though the restaurants themselves will stay in the black.

In addition to the financial struggles with his restaurant empire, former chef proteges have campaigned against him and there have been several accusations of sexual shenanigans! (You just can’t make this stuff up…I have often said that a true restaurant reality show would have to be shown on Cable due to all of the sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll that still happens in some places)

Gordon has had a strong central figure behind the scenes helping to run his restaurant group, Chris Hutcheson, his father-in-law, was also a role model and somewhat surrogate father to him over the course of Ramsay’s meteoric rise to culinary stardom. With Chris running the the day-to-day operations, Gordon was able to be distracted by the trappings of the TV show persona. Now that is Chris is no longer part of the equation, one has to wonder who or if anybody can fill that role.

Gordon has always been gifted at identifying and nurturing new talent in the brigade de cuisine, but late last year he lost two of his most important chef proteges. You can be a Rock Star Chef traveling all over the world if there isn’t the talent manning the stoves back at your restaurants day-in and day-out .

The wheels come off the bus pretty quickly in that scenario.

I wouldn’t count him out just yet…I have the utmost respect and admiration for Chef Ramsay as the truly gifted culinarian that he is (this is often overlooked by the public and professional world). He work ethic and personality are clear examples of pig-headed discipline and determination. He’s a scrappy lad as they say in London town…

As some of my friends, students, and coaching clients have been aware of for a few months now, we have been quietly working behind the scenes on developing a branded line of Chef Gordon Ramsay products for retail distribution in some of the bigger grocery and gourmet stores. I often term this “mailbox money” for my chef clients….the sales volume can be significant and that can cure a ton of ill’s that restaurants simply can’t compete with.

Tagged as: chef mark garcia, gordon ramsay, RCKSTRCHF, rock star chef mark garcia, social media for chefs