Gordon Ramsay: Teetering?

By JULIETTE ROSSANT What is all the fuss about Gordon Ramsay? Last month, Super Chef noted a Telegraph article that outlines Gordon's recent financial struggles (see "Gordon Ramsay Empire Implodes"). Matters do not seem to have improved this month. The Independent reports mounting troubles facing Gordon. The story is all about our love/hate relationship with this super chef. Is he spread too thin? Is he misbehaving in his personal life? Is he rich enough? Is he over-consolidating? The answers from the British press are "yes." Gordon owns with his father-in-law owns nine restaurants in London, seven overseas, and three gastropubs, plus cookbooks, plus several TV series playing in the UK, the US, and around the world. Is that too much to manage? Restaurant magazine's editor, Paul Wootton says, yes, it is too much, "There may be a feeling among part of the restaurant industry and the foodie fraternity that some of the superchefs with large empires of restaurants are spreading themselves too thin." Super Chef has heard that complaint leveled against many chefs -- including four out of five chefs profiled in our book: Todd English, Wolfgang Puck, Charlie Palmer and Tom Colicchio. Some chefs can handle several dozen restaurants successfully, as long as they have the staff and systems in place -- and as long as deals are in their favor. Others have trouble with more than one restaurant, whether they're on different coasts or different continents. It all depends on the chef, their organization, and their business acumen. In terms of wealth, Gordon has fallen off the UK's Sunday Times Rich List. Last year, he placed 1,348th last year with estimated £40 million. This year, Jamie Oliver appeared in his stead. Perhaps most troubling is the news that Gordon serves meals that are not freshly prepared in each restaurant. Instead, they come from a commissary. Gordon Ramsay Holdings. has a kitchen facility near Clapham Common, close to at least four of his outlets. Unclear is whether these meals are sous vide and therefore need special equipment -- or whether Gordon is consolidating kitchens to cut costs in a difficult economy. Regardless of why, the British press is angry -- a painful PR lessan for Gordo. Many super chefs have lost their businesses because of expansion, poor management, bad partners, poor press, and a difficult economy. Plenty have bounced back from such calamities and gone on to beat the odds. The profiles of chefs in Super Chef (2004) attest to abilities to come back after multiple restaurant closings (Wolfgang Puck and Todd English), and economic and natural calamities (Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger). The question here, as he teeters at the edge of disaster, is: can Gordon Ramsay bounce back? Previous articles: Gordon Ramsay: Empire Implodes? Marco Pierre White: The Chopping Block From Gordon Ramsay to Mark Sullivan's Spruce Gordon Ramsay: Child Obesity hGordon Ramsay: Reality Lawsuit Will Beckham Spice Ramsay With Puck? Marco Pierre White: The Devil in the Kitchen Gordon Ramsay: Find Me a Fanny Gordon Ramsay: Say No to Celebrity! Gordon Ramsay v James Bond Gordon Ramsay: Women Can't Cook Gordon Ramsay: A Chef For All Seasons Gordon Ramsay: In the Heat of the Kitchen Gordon Ramsay on Jay Leno: Funnier than Hell Hell's Kitchen on ICE Sneak Peak: Hell's Kitchen, with Gordon Ramsay Gordon Ramsay Joins Richard Branson in Fox's Reality TV Hell Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, cookbook reviews, Gordon Ramsay --> back to Super Chef