Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is the chef that everyone loves to hate. Known for his brutal tactics in Hell’s Kitchen, he has made meme history (though he can’t quite compete with restaurateur Guy Fieri just yet). Aside from his television personality he also owns over 30 restaurants, made head chef at the young age of 27, and is overall quite an impressive chef to follow.
We’ll throw you some quick facts about chef Ramsay, walk you through his early life, culinary career, television appearances, charity, and teach you all about who he is. Then we’ll arm you with some trivia knowledge to impress your friends with and answer any remaining questions you might have.
1. Quick Facts: Gordon Ramsay Edition
Name: Gordon James Ramsay
Date of birth: November 8, 1966
Birthplace: Johnstone, Scotland
Partner: Cayetana Hutcheson
Kids: Megan, Holly, Jack, Matilda, and Oscar.
Restaurants: Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Pétrus, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s, Savoy Grill, Maze Grill Royal Hospital Road, Maze, Maze Grill Park Walk, The Narrow, Gordon Ramsay Plane Food, York and Albany, Bread Street Kitchen, Union Street Cafe, The Boxwood Cafe, La Noisette, London House, Heddon Street Kitchen, Street Pizza (Bread Streat Kitchen), Street Pizza (York and Albany), Lucky Cat, Gordon Ramsay Bar and Grill, Street Pizza (Southwark), Gordon Ramsay Street Burger, Gordon Ramsay Burger, Street Burger (Battersea), Street Pizza (Battersea), Street Burger (Kensington High Street), Bread Street Kitchen (Southwark), Street Burger (Covent Garden), Street Burger (Islington), Street Burger (The O2), Bread Street Cafe (Ealing), Bread Street Kitchen & Bar - The City, Street Burger (Reading) The River Restaurant.
2. Early Life
Chef Gordon Ramsay was born in Johnstone, Scotland, but moved to England at the age of 5. He was raised in Stratford-upon-Avon as the second eldest of four. His mom was a nurse and his father had various jobs throughout his childhood.
He moved around quite often as a young boy and describes his early life as not exactly a walk in the park. His original dream in life was to be a famous soccer player but that dream ended after he suffered a knee injury that ended his football career. By roughly 15 or 16, he left home and moved into his own apartment in Banbury, England.
3. Early Culinary Career
After earning his degree in hotel management, he describes his transition into cooking as a bit of a fluke. What wasn’t a fluke was the talent he began to apprentice with. Young chef Ramsay worked with some of the top chefs in the world. He worked under Marco Pierre White at Harvey’s and Albert Roux at Le Gavroche, and then under Joel Robuchon and Guy Savoy in France.
He attributes much of his later success to the recipes he learned in France. But following a stressful strew of French restaurants he decided he wanted a bit of a break from the culinary fast-paced environment. Still an absolutely stellar chef, with fascinating recipes up his sleeve he went to work for a year as a private chef on a yacht.
Yacht life allowed Gordon Ramsay to travel all over the world to places like Italy and Bermuda. From each of these places, he took culinary inspirations adding more and more recipes to his arsenal. He learned to cook authentic Italian food, experimenting with world flavors. When he came back to the restaurant world it was as head chef of Aubergine. There he earned two Michelin stars, before quitting to open his own venture.
4. Restaurant Ownership
The first of many Gordon Ramsay restaurants opened in 1998 and was creatively named Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. It went on to earn three Michelin stars, securing Ramsay’s position as the very first man from Scotland to have done so.
After that first restaurant, he went on to open dining destinations all around the world, from England to Dubai, to Tokyo and New York. Gordon Ramsay steak and a raw bar are just some highlights of the wide variety of food served at his various ventures. He has fancy restaurants in high-end hotels, multiple restaurants on the Las Vegas strip (like the Gordon Ramsay pub), and even brings a gourmet meal option to your potential layover at the London airport. His newest restaurant will open in the Mandarin Oriental in Boston.
5. Television Shows
Perhaps even more famous than his food, Gordon Ramsay is known for his television show personality. He first hit the scene in Britain as a judge on BBC’s Master Chef way back in the 90s. Soon after, he came the star of a miniseries called Boiling Point, a documentary about his early career and first restaurant. It was such a hit that it led to another miniseries documentary called Beyond Boiling Point.
After that, reality television was making a big mark on the scene and he became the host of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen in 2004. That allowed him to move into the US television scene, as the following year the American version of Hell’s Kitchen debuted on FOX. Meanwhile, chef Ramsay was busy launching The F Word in the United Kingdom that same year.
He was such a strong television personality that producers kept throwing shows his way. He became the head of the group of judges on MasterChef and later filming MasterChef Junior and mentoring future food stars. In 2012 he appeared in two seasons of Hotel Hell. Nowadays, he has Studio Ramsay, his very own multi-media production enterprise.
6. Recent Controversies
While people love to watch the celebrity chef throw together spices and whip up magic in the kitchen, they also love it when he yells at his kitchen staff, demanding perfection. That’s also why they like it when he gets humbled and is involved in a bit of controversy.
Most recently, as of July of this year, while filming an episode of his new series, Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars, there was a bit of controversy regarding a couple’s wedding. Apparently, there was a small wedding on Lusty Glaze Beach while Ramsay and his crew were filming. The couple’s special day was absolutely ruined by the disturbance of a film crew distracting the wedding party on what was supposed to be a private beach.
To make up for ruining the wedding day, Ramsay paid for the entire affair! Hopefully, that’ll teach him not to shoot a new season of a show during wedding season!
There was also a bit of criticism he received for his recent take on a traditional Puerto Rican dish while filming for his Youtube series Scrambled: On the Road. In the video, chef Ramsay makes Puerto Rican pegao, a crispy rice dish that according to most Puerto Rican chefs he completely butchered. While he tried to draw culinary inspiration from Puerto Rican classics, it’s best perhaps that he sticks to a stellar steak instead.
7. Charity Work
The Ramsay family started up a foundation, called the Gordon and Tana Ramsay Foundation in 2014. The foundation currently works with a Children’s hospital (Great Ormand Street Hospital) raising money for the hospital and its patients.
Aside from his foundation, he has supported a number of charitable organizations throughout the seasons, from Elton John’s AIDS Foundation to UNICEF and Women’s Aid.
8. Personality
Gordon Ramsay is known for throwing around the F-bomb quite casually. While his television appearances have depicted him as incredibly explosive at times, the reality is that Ramsay is a little sweetheart. He loves his family and working with children. Case in point, Gordon Ramsay’s daughter has been inspired by her dad and also loves to cook.
He’s also an incredibly successful chef in a pretty cutthroat industry, meaning he must have some sort of pizazz that allowed him to succeed for this long. He’s described as charismatic and hardworking. And clearly, given his net worth, a very brilliant businessman, and entrepreneur.
9. Follow Him on Social Media
In the above video Gordon is actually critiquing Dalstrong's very own Chuck's Flavor Train.
Gordon Ramsay is the kind of chef and entrepreneur who has his a million projects going all at once. Keep up with his hilarious videos, delicious recipes, and more by following him on Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, and my personal favorite, Tik Tok.
10. Fun Facts About Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay is a pretty public figure, but even still I’ve got a few fun facts up my sleeve. I bet you didn’t know everything about Chef Ramsay, but now you will!
- He was once a professional soccer player for the football club the Glasgow Rangers!
- Gordon Ramsay’s last meal on earth would either be beef wellington or a full English breakfast.
- As a pretty famous celebrity chef, he also has famous friends, like the very stylish and attractive Beckham family.
- Ramsay is a Scorpio.
- The first time he cut himself cooking in over a decade happened on an Ellen DeGeneres Show appearance!
- In his Tik Tok posts, Ramsay reacts to videos of other people cooking.
- Gordon Ramsay has a video game out! It’s called Chef Blast.
- While he is a fan of most food, he absolutely hates pineapple pizza.
- Ramsay’s feet are so big that he has to get his shoes custom-made!
- He absolutely loves In-n-Out Burger and always orders animal style.
11. Frequently Asked Questions About Chef Gordon Ramsay
Is Gordon Ramsay a 5-star chef?
Absolutely. His restaurants have held over 17 Michelin stars throughout his career, but currently, he has 7 Michelin stars to his name. In other words, he is a 5-star chef.
Is Gordon Ramsay still married?
Yes! Cayetana Hutcheson and Ramsay have been married for 25 years. They’ve had five children together and are still thriving.
Where is Gordon Ramsay from?
While he was born in Scotland he was actually raised most of his life in England. Nowadays he spends most of his time between Los Angeles and England.
Why is Gordon Ramsay famous?
He is famous for his many successful restaurant ventures and recipes, but also because he’s been on so many famous cooking shows! From Hell’s Kitchen to Top chef, he’s one of the highest-earning culinary giants in the world.
What is Gordon Ramsay’s net worth?
This man is a restaurant machine, with over 30 restaurants and counting. Add that to his television shows, media appearances, and other income it’s safe to say the Ramsays are pretty set for life. In 2019 it was estimated that he was worth about $63 million and since then he’s opened yet another restaurant, so we can only imagine he’s worth even more.
Check Out Why So Many Chefs Are Choosing Dalstrong Today
