connor wrote:Excuse my ignorance....but who is Gordon Ramsey..?
He is a famous chef who found fame on tv and is renowned for using the 'F' word!
Scottish by birth, Gordon was brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, from the age of five. With an injury prematurely cutting short a promising career in professional football with the Glasgow Rangers, he went back to college to complete a course in hotel management.
Ramsay’s first years in the kitchen were spent training under culinary luminaries such as Marco Pierre White and Albert Roux in London, after which he moved to France where he worked in the kitchens of Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon for three years where he he was able to enhance his expertise in classic French cooking. In 1993, Gordon became chef of the newly opened Aubergine, within three years the restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars.
Gordon's first book, Passion for Flavour, was published in 1996. A number of hugely successful books have since followed including: Passion for Seafood (1999); A Chef for all Seasons (2000); Just Desserts (2001); Gordon Ramsay Makes it Easy (2005); Gordon Ramsay’s Sunday Lunch (2006); Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food (2007) and Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite (2008). His most recent recipe book, Gordon’s Ramsay’s Cooking for Friends is published by HarperCollins this September.
In 1998 at the age of 31, Gordon set up his first wholly owned restaurant, Gordon Ramsay, in Chelsea. On 19th January 2001 it won its third Michelin star. It has since undergone a major refurbishment and this year celebrates its tenth anniversary. In October 2001 Gordon opened Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's which won a Michelin star in 2003. The same year saw the opening of Gordon Ramsay Holdings first international restaurant, Verre, located in the Dubai Hilton Creek Hotel. A year later he opened Pétrus in St. James's. Within seven months it had won a Michelin star. The restaurant relocated to The Berkeley Hotel in 2003 and won its second Michelin star in January 2007.
In 2001 ‘The Gordon Ramsay Scholar Award’ was set up to recognise talented young cooks working in catering or studying at catering college. The competition has grown year on year and now takes place at The BBC Good Food Show.
At the beginning of October 2002, Gordon Ramsay Holdings took over the food and beverage operation at The Connaught Hotel with Angela Hartnett at the helm. Her restaurant MENU won its first Michelin star in January 2004. In 2003 Gordon Ramsay Holdings re-launched The Savoy Grill with Marcus Wareing. The restaurant achieved its first Michelin star in 2004. This was followed with the opening of Boxwood Café at The Berkeley with chef Stuart Gillies.
May 2004 saw Gordon Ramsay star in the Channel 4 series Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, later to be awarded a BAFTA and an International Emmy. Shortly after this, Gordon was given two weeks to direct a group of celebrities towards Michelin standard cooking in the ITV series Hell's Kitchen. 2005 confirmed Gordon as one of the UK's major television stars. A second series of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares was followed by the debut of Channel 4's The F-Word, a high-octane food show with cooking, topical VT's, food campaigns and celebrity guests which remains one of Channel 4’s highest rating shows. The third series of US Hell’s Kitchen was named the top rated show of Summer 2007, a few months later, the American version of Kitchen Nightmares made its successful debut.
2005 also saw the launch of GRH’s eighth UK restaurant, maze, in London's Grosvenor Square with Jason Atherton and the opening of Gordon Ramsay at The Conrad Hotel in Tokyo. The year was rounded off with Gordon's award of an OBE in the New Year's Honours list.
In October 2006 Gordon’s autobiography, Humble Pie was published by Harper Collins. The book, which details an honest account of his life in and out of the kitchen, has topped the best seller charts and has since been published in paperback.
In November 2006 Gordon made his stateside debut with the opening of Gordon Ramsay at The London in The London NYC Hotel, part of the LXR Luxury Resorts collection where Josh Emett, previously head chef at The Savoy Grill is the resident chef de cuisine. In July 2006 GRH opened La Noisette with chef patron Bjorn Van Der Horst, which won a Michelin star in January 2007. Now known as Sloane Street by Gordon Ramsay, the space now offers exclusive private dining for the group.
In January 2007 Gordon Ramsay Holdings opened Cielo at the exclusive Boca Raton resort in Florida. 2007 was also the year that Gordon opened his first pub, The Narrow, in a Grade II listed building on the banks of the River Thames in London’s Limehouse. Gordon has since gone on to open two further pubs: The Devonshire in West London and most recently, The Warrington in Maida Vale.
In October 2007 Quadrille published Gordon Ramsay, 3 Star Chef; a beautiful book containing 50 of Gordon’s signature dishes from Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. October was also the month that saw the publication of Gordon’s follow up to Humble Pie. Titled Playing with Fire published by HarperCollins, the book gives insight into the success of the chef and his company Gordon Ramsay Holdings.
The fifth international Gordon Ramsay restaurant opened towards the end of the year at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Powerscourt, Ireland at the same time that Gordon launched maze restaurant at the Hilton Old Town in Prague. January 2008 saw the re-opening of Chelsea’s classic neighbourhood bistro, Foxtrot Oscar, on Royal Hospital Road, just a few doors away from Gordon’s eponymous restaurant.
In early 2008 Gordon Ramsay Holdings and Lyndy Redding announced their acquisition of the acclaimed Tante Marie Cookery School which will re launch this September.
In March Gordon introduced his first restaurant in France at the legendary Trianon Palace & Spa located just steps away from the famed Château de Versailles. March was also the month that Gordon, together with Stuart Gillies, opened Plane Food, a restaurant at the newly built Heathrow Terminal 5. This was followed in April by the launch of Maze Grill in London’s Grosvenor Square and the publication of maze executive chef Jason Atherton’s first recipe book, maze, The Cookbook. In June Gordon launched Gordon Ramsay at The London in West Hollywood where Chef de Cuisine Andy Cook oversees the Californian-inspired menu at the David Collins designed restaurant.
Autumn 2008 sees the launch of two exciting projects for Gordon Ramsay protégé Angela Hartnett since her move from The Connaught. On August 21st Angela will open Murano, a fine-dining restaurant in the heart of London’s Mayfair. On 22nd September, York and Albany, located on the edge of London’s Regents Park, opens comprised of a restaurant with bar, delicatessen and guest accommodation.
In December Gordon, in partnership with Brand Events, will host Gordon Ramsay Presents Taste of Christmas in association with Gordon’s will celebrate the best in Christmas food, drink and entertaining and will be held at London’s ExCeL centre from 4th-7th December.
(after all it is over used on here and by both male and female members! 
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