"Gordon Ramsay" - podcast episode cover

"Gordon Ramsay"

Jun 09, 20251 hr 3 minEp. 257
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Summary

Jason, Sean, and Will welcome celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to SmartLess. Gordon shares insights into his demanding career, from his humble beginnings and soccer aspirations to building a global restaurant empire and television presence. He discusses the realities of the hospitality industry, achieving and maintaining Michelin stars, his leadership philosophy, and balancing work with family life. The conversation also touches on his TV persona, memorable Kitchen Nightmares moments, and his personal passions like cars and triathlons.

Episode description

Put your blindfold on, one teaspoon at a time: it’s Gordon Ramsay. Meat and 2 veg, a Trojan mouse, and the soup of the month. Bon appétit dans un tout nouvel épisode de SmartLess.

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Transcript

Episode Sponsor Messages

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SmartLess Intro and Banter

Hey, guys, it's 2025, okay? It's 2025. What are your dreams for this year? God, I don't give a shit. Welcome to Smartless. Smart. I gotta tell you, you know, when it's not my guest, I never really know what kind of tone to take with the coffee chat. Because, like, what if it's like, you know... This one, you can go balls out, literally.

Really? I can start cursing right now? Yeah. Saying bad words? By the way, the shorts I'm wearing, I could go balls out real easy. Wait, Will, stop it. You don't know this person yet. No! Don't show us your balls. I'm not going to. How dare you? All right, now listen. Oh, now listen. Now listen. Hang on a second. No, no, no. First of all, don't go to your script. What are you talking about?

Will's Birthday and Maple Leafs

I saw your eyes go to the script. No, now here's my thing. No, I was going to say that Jason missed. willie's birthday last week we we missed you yeah yeah how'd that go but listen to this this is i told will i was going to say this on on the show to you jay You can never make fun of me for, well, you can, for my eating habits and my diet. This fella right here at his own birthday dinner brought, Jay, he brought his own Hershey's caramel syrup. First of all. In his pocket, in his pocket.

By the way, then I asked if I could have it. You dropped some nice weight for this film. You're going to be 420. No, no, no. I'm still on one cheat meal a week. By the way, I didn't bring it in my pocket. I made Archie, my 16-year-old, put it in his pocket. Bring it. He muled it. I had too much shame.

He muleed it in for me. Then Kimmel said, I brought it out. Kimmel said, is that your tanning lotion? And then, by the way, so everybody made fun, at which point they bring Sundays out for everybody and every person asks for it. For it, yeah. It was a good call. It was amazing. Everybody had individual hot fudge sundaes brought to them. Well, it's like when you drive past a car crash, you're going to look, you know, but you don't want to. I guess so. It's human nature.

Toronto Charity Work and Pubs

But it was just so rich watching people making jokes. Look at you with your camera. Get it over here, okay? Yeah. And then I tried to, you know, because I missed it. So then the next day I texted Willie on the day of the first. Maple Leafs game the next round. And I said, hey, I feel bad. I'm going to fly into town and I'd love to see you. I'm going to pick you up at five. Now, five o'clock was when the puck dropped. He didn't, he's so, I know he didn't know what I was, what the joke was.

was there. He was just like, oh, you did or you didn't? Of course I knew what the joke was. Really? Because I did it on game two and you still didn't get it. I don't get it. I don't get what the joke is. The joke is like you must not be busy. Yeah, I need to see you right at the point that the puck drops for the game. Oh, I see. Got it. Yeah, can't be talked to. Yeah, no, I did.

But anyway, yeah, the Leafs, who knows what's going to happen when they go forward in this because this will be way later. Yeah, but we've got a real series now. We've got a real series. I was in Toronto this weekend. I did my hospital gig for the Michael Guerin Hospital. We raised millions of dollars for the hospital. which is amazing. We're like, this is a hospital I like to be in. Do you still take lira? Do you still take lira? Michael Garan Hospital, we take lira. Do you still...

That's really funny. I have 600,000 lira here, $2. Remember, it used to be like 100,000 lira for $2. I know, there's nowhere else to go if you get like $100. So that's unfortunate. that it didn't time out with the Leafs being in Toronto, right? They were playing down in Florida. They were playing in Florida, but I watched with the whole family, my dad and my sisters and everybody. We went to our pub, The Queen and Beaver, which is Jameson Kerr, which I'm also a part of.

Rough title. The Queen and Beaver, it's pretty good. The Queen and Beaver, yeah. And it's a great pub if you're in Toronto. You ever sub out that N for an S? Queens beaver? Oh, the queens. Oh, oh, oh. Add an S. I'm not taking an N out. No, you take a queen and... Queen and beaver. Queen and beaver. Queen apostrophe and beaver. You take out the apostrophe N, you put in apostrophe S. The queen's...

Queen's beef. Well, here's, first of all, it's and, it's not, it's not the, I'll meet you at the Queen's beef. It's not, it's not Queensland. Oh, I had the greatest meal at the Queen's beef. God, what did it taste?

Introducing Culinary Superstar Gordon Ramsay

Wait, that's the joke. It's kind of salty there at the Queen's. Wow. Guys, my guest today is a father of six. No, he won't be. He's a father of six, former soccer hopeful, football. Yeah. His resume includes washing dishes in an Indian restaurant and wants cooking lunch for Princess Diana. These days, he's got a soft spot for In-N-Out burgers. I just had two yesterday, which is a true story. Two. You needed two? I did. I had two. I ate them in my car. Oh, man, let me check out the believability.

scale on that. By the way, and some of the beef fell in between my seats and I had to get it out because I knew it would smell. So you had to suck it out. I did with my straw. Was that the first time you sucked beef out of seats? Sorry, gang. At the Queen's Beef. At the Queen's Beef. That's a different one. The Queen's Beef is next door. We went for dessert at the peach crease afterwards. Guys, we're losing listener by the moment. I know, sorry.

He has an obsession with cold plunges, Will. You love that. And a few Michelin stars under his belt, all while turning swearing into a love language. Today, he's bringing the fire in and out of the kitchen. It's the wonderful, delicious Gordon Ramsay, who I've loved forever. Guys.

Just met him a couple weeks ago with you, Willie. Wait, what? We just ran into you, Gordon. What are you talking about? Where? Yeah, over at our friend Bradley's place. Yeah, that's right. Oh, I didn't know that. Now, how do you all know each other, Willie?

How did that all... That wasn't the first time you met him? No, we met through our friend... Gordon, we're going to let you speak in a moment. Rob Wade, right, Gordon? Gordon, we had dinner with our friend Rob Wade. That's right. Guys, good to see you all. And thank you. Great to see you. Wait, this is amazing. I've never met... I met you, Gordon, and I'm a huge fan. And meanwhile, I didn't know you knew these two guys. Yeah, catch up, Sean.

Navigating TV Upfronts and Career Longevity

I'm here. That's why I can't wait. Gordon, this is what I want to know. Thank you so much for being here. You're such a good dude. Where are we finding you right now? Because you're always, every time I see you, you're always coming from the airport or going to the airport. No, we've got the upfronts today. so in New York. People still have those even though the network television business is kind of...

Fuck me, yes, unfortunately. They do, and they're painful. Oh, my God. The first one I ever went to, so for Tracy, the upfronts are where... networks put up their shows. They display kind of what the fall season's going to be and the ad agencies are going to... commit to dollars. They pre-sell all the commercials. Right. And now streamers are doing it too. I'm on my way there for Netflix. Oh, wow. So the first time I went, Gordon, was... See you there, Gordon.

The first time I went to an upfront, I was like, can't we handle this in a fax machine? Like, can't we just send an email? saying like what the shows are and why do you have to like the dog and the pony of it, right? How were the laughs to that joke? Hey, listen. No, it wasn't a joke. I was serious. Like, can't we just... First of all, Gordon is keeping, single-handedly keeping Fox on the air. I know, that is true.

20 years. 20 years. 20 years. In 2004, we came over. As you know, there was not many mainstream foodie programs on the network. And how many shows in 20 years?

Kitchen Nightmares and Restaurant Business

I think we've had, is it 10, 11, or 12? Wow. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Good Lord. It's really impressive. I've watched every single episode of Kitchen Nightmares. Stop it. I love it. Stop it. For real. I really have. He's obsessed. I love it so much. Has there ever been a celebrity edition? Could Sean be on a celebrity edition? How do I get yelled at? Please don't open a restaurant, Sean. Please, please, please don't. Deal. I got a good name for it. Go on. The queen's beef.

That's the problem. You know, that's the one big problem in this industry that anybody can open a restaurant. It's not like an actor. It's not like a doctor or a lawyer, a bar school. I go back to that dinner party when they say, hey, Sean, your food's fucking delicious, man. You should open a restaurant. So the next day, you start looking at taking leases out in the neighborhood for these incredible little bistros. And then that reality turns into a nightmare because they sort of...

they don't fully understand that it's a business. Number one, it's a business, right? Like I'm just going to cook for my friends and other people will like it too.

Secrets to Restaurant Success

Yeah, that's right. And pardon the pun here, but have you cracked what maybe the secret sauce is to keeping a restaurant open? Because I would imagine when it first opens, you need sort of to be somewhat of a popular restaurateur where you've got a certain...

client bases they're going to come in and they're going to populate it for the first week month whatever and then of course the food's got to be good and that can carry you for another couple of months but how do you get into years after years after years how do you keep it hot and fresh and yeah great question first of all

you need to keep it local, right? The secret of any great restaurant is filling it Monday to Wednesday. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, it takes care of itself. And so that's the essence of getting it right, filling it Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights, especially in the middle of November and early in... Jan. So stay local, okay? Keep the produce simple. Don't overcomplicate things.

And don't go crazy on the prices because it's a lot easier to make money on alcohol than it is on food. So if we go into a restaurant locally and you know it's decently priced, you'll spend more money naturally on a cocktail or a bottle of wine. And so that's where you make money. your percentages but it's got to be seasonal it's got to be local and you've just you've got to know your market you've got to really know the market

And you've got to know how to, you know, so all jokes aside, so the Queen and Beaver is a gastropub in Toronto that my friend Jameson Kerr started, and he was a restaurateur. So he had another restaurant, and then he opened a few, including the Queen and Beaver and the Oxley. Now he runs exclusively Queen and Beaver, and I have...

small interest in it and have since the beginning. I'll say it one more time then. But that is his business and that's what he does. That's his full-time thing and he runs a business and we're in the penny business so we have to count everything.

and everything matters and everything is locally. We make everything in the restaurant. All the bread is made in the restaurant. It's well-priced and the menu is very good and it's very simple. Again, it's just a gastropub, Queen and Beaver, just above Dundas, open seven days a week.

Maintaining Passion and Preventing Burnout

But that's the thing. But like Jason was saying, after all those years of... Because I go to this restaurant. We all have our favorite restaurants. One of mine ends in... Well, Jay's is like, it's McDonald's. No. It's Chin Chin. I love Chin Chin. But no. You love salt. And after years and years. How do you find the energy and the passion to maintain and sustain that restaurant?

Yeah, I think it's important to change the staff every three to four years so they don't get complacent and lazy. I've been a great motivator of planning succession as well.

Achieving and Maintaining Michelin Stars

This industry is an absolute bitch and it's notorious for the burnout. And so when I start to spot that in the team, it's time to take a bit of a sabbatical and move them on. Wrestling Call Remzi this year celebrates 28 years. 25 years at Three Star Michelin. Wow, that's amazing. That's in Chelsea, a tiny little restaurant. What's it called? Say it again. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. Oh, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. After getting screwed over by so many partners at the age of 13.

when I convinced my wife to sort of sell any form of asset we had in order to conjure up some form of deposit to get my own restaurant. Yeah, back in 1998, yeah. Wow, that's impressive. What type of stuff do you guys serve there? So highly seasonal. Again, it moves from...

Going into summer now, coming out of spring, it functions five days a week. It's one brigade. We're closed Sunday, Monday. And so it's sort of one team, one dream. And that's how you conceptualize something that can run for decades.

Understanding Michelin Guide and Inspectors

because you keep it small and powerful. Right, I love that. And for a dummy like me, a Michelin star obviously is sort of like the... you know, gold medal of a restaurant. One is great, two is better, three is the best. 14. You've had 14, is that right? Yeah, we've won over the years. We've got currently just under 10. But Three Stars is the ultimate. And it's not just about the pompous wine cellar and the thick linen. It's about the food being consistent and the food being...

Immacula. And it's not easy to get, as Gordon, what he's not, what he's leading out is it's so hard to get just one, let alone two, let alone three. It's the most difficult thing to do. But like there are... I'm slightly smarter for some reason about hotel stars. There are certain things a hotel has to do in order to qualify for.

four stars versus three, five stars versus four. What is it that gets you a star? What is it that gets you two? What is that gets you three? Sure. So the first star is based on consistency and good food. The second star is a level. excellence that is very rarely found, again, with great service. And third star is utter perfection.

perfection every day. Not just when the head chef's there, it's on a daily basis, lunch and dinner. So go back to restaurant Gordon Ramsay, we've only got 10 tables. So everyone says, how do you maintain that? Because we cook 40 lunch and 40 dinners, 80 guests a day, but... We're on, what, 64 staff?

in that entire place. So you look at the ratio. Yeah, but then you got your lease and you got to pay overhead. And then how does it, so is it like a team of these Michelin folks that kind of go around the world? They don't let you know that they're coming, I would assume, and they just kind of pop.

in every once in a while and then... Like Ratatouille, like the Pixar movie. That's exactly that. I mean, they're all incognito. You never get to see or hear them. Maybe they'll introduce themselves once a year. Hello, it's nice to meet you, Gordon. We'll give you one star, maybe. They say nothing. They just pay the bill. Can I have a quick word of the chef? How's it going? And they keep it very, very minimal. You know that. Except for the big fat tire guy. Except for the big fat tire guy.

Michelin Tire Company Origin Story

He's hard to miss. He's the fat fucker that ate everything. By the way, you know, it is Michelin Tires, right? As you know, Gordon will tell you. Oh, it's the same company? So, Gordon, will you tell the story? Do you know the story of how they originated, right? I would like to know. Yeah. And by the way, Gordon, before you got, you've had 17 Michelin stars. Thank you. So Gordon, tell them how it started.

So it's in the southwest of France. And this company, as you know, was formidable for tires. And so they came up with the idea back in 1900 to sort of formulate this guide. So as you travel across France, you sort of stop off. you pick up and you sleep in these little hotels and they start sort of sprinkling stars over them. But it's the longest surfing guide in the world. It's one of the most prestigious and it's the guide that you never get to know. So... Isn't that amazing?

I've only been once. I've been to one three-star Michelin restaurant, and that was in Tokyo. I went to Jiro. Beautiful. Yeah, beautiful. Incredible. He made me my dinner in front of me, Jiro. Wow. The old boy. 2015. That's incredible. The documentary was amazing. Amazing documentary. He's got the son's head, but he won't hand it over to his sons because they don't think they're sort of, you know, competent enough. Sean and Jason, have you seen that documentary? Yeah, yeah, I love it.

What's it called? Jiro, Dreams of Sushi, J-I-R-O. And he has an apprentice who's making that one special dish that I think is sort of a cake type thing. That's right. And he doesn't let him make it to serve. He has to be an apprentice and practice for ten... Five years. Five or ten years. Five years.

to wash the rice and then 10 years to sort of get up to speed. It's insane. No way. Yes. It's crazy. And that's the sort of level of perfection that it takes to become a three-star, Michelin three-star. Well, you have to really want to do it. Yeah. But I'll be honest, once you get there, you've got to delegate. You've got to get it off.

Finding Fearlessness from Poverty

your radar in a way that you bring the next tier of talent through. Otherwise, you're going to get changed at that stove. Yeah, I want to get into like, where did you find, like, who was your inspiration to be fearless? Because you're the, I mean, you're fearless in business. in your restaurants, in life. I mean, you just go and go and go and you attack life. It's crazy. Yeah, I think, I'll be honest, I think that's growing up in poverty in a way that, you know, coming from a cancel estate.

sort of deprived area, going to school with like holes in your trousers and your mum having to put leather patches on your knees, which then actually turned out quite cool. Getting called out by your mates because you're having to line up in the queue for dinner tickets. because you didn't have the money to buy food. And then, of course, the biggest embarrassment, I had my big sister and my little brother at the same school. Mum and dad could never, we never bought independent food.

individual photos. So we had to go for that family shot that all three of us together that the school were paying for. So you were pulled out of class on the sort of last day of those shots and made to feel so bad because they knew. you weren't doing individual shots and anyone got called out in the middle of the lesson. When did you know, when did you know, so growing up in that, when did you know that like,

Soccer Injury Led to Culinary Path

I'm going to make it out of here. I'm smart enough. I have the brain to get me out of my situation. Was it from that moment? Yeah. First off, as you know, I studied in soccer. So I had a really strong sporting background. At the age of 18, I got released from Glasgow Rangers in a way that I was in their academy. You played under-14 football, right? Yeah, under-14, under-16, under-18. But because I was so big and sort of lanky... I sort of played.

two years above my station. So I was playing in a game, and it was a friendly game, pre-season friendly game, and I got involved in a horrific tackle, and I smashed my cartilage and tore my crucial ligament, my left knee, naturally left-footed.

Back in those days, you weren't ambidext. You were never sort of kicking brilliantly with both feet. So naturally left footy was quite rare. And then I got sort of released. I got let go. They told me they'd keep an eye on me and all that bullshit that comes with, you know. a sorry goodbye. And then I got into a catering course.

just a basic college course where I'd spend two days a week at college and five days a week in a local hotel. And that's how it started. And so football, but initially football really saved you, would you say, from your situation early on? Yeah, I mean... Yeah, exactly that. Because it sort of not just kept me out of trouble, but it got me into a level of discipline that I enjoyed. But most importantly, I excelled. I really did. We'll be right back.

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Cheese and C's apply. Subject evaluation and survey. Mate, you've got to try Wendy's new sweet and smoky barbecue cheeseburger. The sauce has a secret ingredient. Is it apple? Nope. Honey? Nope. Peach. Slime. No. Cherry. No. Pineapple. No. Passion fruit. Blackberry. No. Wait. I've got it. It's... Try Wendy's new sweet and smoky barbecue cheeseburger with super secret sauce. And now back to the show.

Discipline in the Kitchen and Life

That's interesting you bring up the discipline because you are, and Sean said it, you're so driven, but you also come across as a very disciplined person. You, as I mentioned, you travel a lot. You have so many things on your plate, forgive the pun, but you do have so many things on your plate. And I wonder, do you attribute some of that to the discipline that you did learn early on from being part of a team, from being involved in sports so heavily?

Yeah, I mean, listen, restaurants are dangerous games, right? When you start indulging, when you start drinking, when you start sitting down with customers and you start opening a bottle of wine and you start looking for the second, third, all of a sudden you're then a customer. And so I've got that level of...

of discipline that it's not there to be indulged. Restaurant called Ramsay, would you believe? We've only eaten there as a family. God, we've only eaten that restaurant in 27 years, three times. Once with Megan. to celebrate her 16th birthday, once was with friends. And the last time I ate there, would you believe, was with Coop when he was filming Burnt. Oh, no way. With Bradley. And we had dinner together. And he said...

Do you come here often? I said, no, I'm embarrassed. What, of your success? No, not so much of the success. I'm just embarrassed about how plush this thing is because we never grew up with this. I created this, I worked for it, but I don't want to indulge. I think that's that. discipline coming back again. But having that opportunity to excel so early in soccer and giving yourself a sense of...

Of excellence? Now that you, well, once you came into a leadership position, did you find that you were eager to give that opportunity to your staff, whether they be...

Leadership Style and Delegation

a sous chef, prep chef? I mean, how did that inform the way in which you led folks? Unselfishness. and the non-control freak in me. And I suppose, you know, getting to the very top and winning that third Michigan star... I grew up watching mum handle three jobs, and she was a cook in a beautiful little restaurant in Stratford-on-Avon. So after soccer practice, I'd go there and prep the veg for her. So it was mainstream food, but...

She installed that work ethic in me early. And so I knew when I got to the very top, if I didn't delegate at the age of 33 and teach beneath me in a way that you got everyone up to that platform. I'd kill myself because it is that relentless. Unless you take a step back. So one minute you're...

playing in the orchestra, next minute you're conducting the orchestra, and that orchestra is those 25 chefs on a daily basis. You then have to teach quickly and offload what you've got to empower the others to get...

TV Persona Versus Reality

on that platform. You know, it's so funny because oftentimes when you see, especially when they cut the commercials together for your various shows, they sort of cast you as the guy who's coming, you're being really hard on the people who run the restaurant and they're quite slow and they're dumb and you're smart and you're the villain or you're...

You're the star, but you're the villain, or you're the good guy, you're saving them, but you wear love. And I think that there's like this, certainly before I ever watched the show, when I saw those things, the misconception I had was that it was all ego. And in fact, it's the opposite.

you understand that you've actually got very, there's very little ego in it. You understand that the restaurant or the business is the star and that everybody has to be on board pulling towards making that thing succeed. Exactly. Otherwise... you've spent decades as a busy idiot. And I'll be honest, seriously, because you just spent, you know, listen, the hours are unsociable, you know, the money's shit on the journey up like in any career. And so you've got to value that.

And so when I started realizing all these issues, it was about... You know, the lack of empowerment. You've got to get them on the same page. And so, yes, it's brutal. Yes, I'm honest. Yes, I am absolutely in their face because it's bloody frustrating when they're not listening, right? And kitchen nightmares, let's not forget. I don't...

Grossest Restaurant Stories

lock-up unannounced, they do ask me in there by the way. And they promised me they have cleaned up before I got there. And I'm thinking, holy shit. So you cleaned up and it's still a shithole. What was it like two weeks ago? But the psychological journey that you take them on is so funny. One of the greatest one-liners you had was you walk in there to somebody and you said, you're like a one-hit wonder except your one hit is fucking burnt. Ha ha ha!

Jesus. I got accused once of bringing a mouse in my pocket. No way. Yeah, I think it was outside Philly in a restaurant and there was a mouse running across the floor and I said, look. We're about to open the doors. There's a fucking mouse on table seven. I said, stop it. You brought that in. I said, sorry.

Beg your pardon? He said, yeah, roll the cameras back. I said, what do you mean roll the cameras back? Yeah, play the tape. I said, what do you mean play the tape? I don't do that shit. Are you saying that I put this mouse in my... Yeah, I saw you shake your leg as you came through the door. You shook the mouse out of your...

Your ankles. That's ratatouille, isn't it? Honestly, I swear to God. What's the grossest, without naming it, what's the grossest situation you ever walked into in a restaurant? It's every episode. I know, but there must be one that's stuck with you that's like... Oh, God. I think recently I was in one restaurant and, you know...

sort of the hot plate, the past. That's where everything comes to, right? And they had all these parfait jars up there with like rice and lentils and grains. And I thought one of those jars had smashed because it's full of all these little grains. And until I got up close, personal. I didn't realize it was actually full of rat shit. And so I said to the chef, hey, have you seen what's on top of the pass? You know, this stuff could be dripping into the fridge. Well, it's not.

I said, yeah, but it's rat shit. He said, yeah, I'm going to clean it. I said, but when are you going to clean it? He said, what do you expect me to do? Fucking shoot the rats. I said, no. clean your shithole. And so he was cooking food. It's amazing. Under the hot plate with all these little tiny turds that had dehydrated, become like little bullets on top of the pass.

Oh, Jason, Jason, God, this hurts you so much. I can't, yeah. Yeah, another one-liner. Sorry, this is the last one. You said it might have been... Recently, he said, you're so fucking useless, you make a bloody brick wall look intelligent. Sometimes, I don't even know if I'm coming out with them, you know that. Sometimes it's just in the heat of the moment. Of course, of course. They push your buttons, man.

Yeah. Well, what really does, and if it changes, let us know, but I would imagine that your button gets pushed when you see people really not kind of rowing in the same direction, like not really being a good team member. Or is it lack of work ethic or concentration? What is it that really gets you? Laziness. Yeah. Laziness. Yeah. It's the worst thing.

anyone can bring into any restaurant business. Especially when you're working hard and people around you aren't where you are. Exactly that. And there are so many tiny details. And I always consider 10 little problems become one big problem at the end of the day. But when chefs start cutting corners in... Our business, you're screwed. It's the beginning of the end. And also...

Hygiene. No, but seriously. There is nothing worse than a sweaty fat fuck that comes out of that kitchen and goes to the table. And he's got dehydrated skin. He's got a beard that's untrimmed. He's sweating from the armpits. His fingernails are black. And he asks you, how was your fucking lunch? Yeah. I mean, the worst question. Yeah. The worst question. First of all, you should never have sent that.

food if it wasn't good anyway so don't ask that question secondly it's a bad advert for the restaurant you know and it's gross and today's chefs need to be a lot more prolific, not just as a marketing tool, but just common sense. And so I hate laziness. I hate slobs. I'm not good at that. Yeah, yeah. What do you guys, what do you, I know.

Restaurant Pet Peeves and Soup Debate

my pet peeves are when I walk into a restaurant. They're really pretty trivial. Does it start with welcome in? Well, first of all, welcome in. If I own a restaurant, if anybody at the Queen of Beaver says welcome in, you're gone. hate that sort of faux folksy bullshit. And it's new, right? Isn't it just like a- Have a day. It's like when you play golf, they go, have a day. Fuck off.

Exactly. Please fuck right off. That took over for touch base and circle back. Circle back, yeah. Welcome in is gone. But also when a waiter says, so tonight chef is preparing, I'm like, I don't know chef. So stop referring to, and chef is doing. a braised beef. Yeah. Or it's going to be. It's going to be.

Yes. It's going to be put on a plate. Oh, is it? I hope so. Yeah, or soup of the day. What was it? Well, it's a roasted carrot and cumin. And what was the soup of the day yesterday? Roasted carrot and cumin. What was the soup last week? Roasted carrot and cumin. Soup of the fucking month. Yeah, okay. And isn't soup really just sauce? Can we dispel the whole... Wow. It really is sauce, right? It's salty, it's creamy, like you can put it over a chicken breast. No, no, no, no.

No, no. I mean, soups are magical. I remember going to Paris at the age of 22. I said to you earlier, without a pot to piss in. And I had to become French. And not only was I running away from the hurt in soccer, but I just wanted to memorize myself. in France and become French. And my first job on the galmanger, the sort of starter section, was making this broccoli soup with goat's cheese ravioli. So they gave me these heads of broccoli and a pan of water.

And I thought we'd need garlic, shallots, vegetable stock. But all it was was rolling, boiling, beautiful water, nicely seasoned. The florets, the little flowers of broccoli. cooked for two minutes so we didn't lose the color. Then you drain those broccoli florets. And then from there, you use the water the broccoli was cooked in and you puree the broccoli and add the water back to it. And it's most natural...

delicious, flavored broccoli soup. Two ingredients, broccoli and water. And then, of course, it gets sent into the Premier League with those little tiny goat's cheese and raviolis. And it was so... Beautifully done. So no, soup is not a fucking sauce. No, it's not. And Sean, just for Sean, broccoli is a vegetable. Yeah, hang on. It looks like a tree. It's not a Pop-Tart flavor. All right.

Evolution of British Cuisine

Gordon, my mother is British and she was always sort of just like, well, you know, Britain was never really known for its great food, she would always say. Why is that? And I hear that it is. changed now can you walk us through that yeah i mean i got the piss uh and when we take it out of me

Yeah, when I was in Paris in the 90s, because we had such a bad reputation. It was like roast beef, fish and chips, mushy peas, and it was dreadful. It was gray, it was dark, it was fucking horrendous. Because it was heavily influenced from? I think it was the mining towns in a way that it was like meat and two veg. And, you know, it was that sort of uninspired way of cooking with just absolute crap. And so...

I couldn't wait to get out of the UK to go and sort of get on that journey and start searching. And so France was... It's this bedrock. It gave birth to haute cuisine. And then from France, I went to Italy. From Italy, I went to Spain. And then from Spain, you know, I came across and spent a year on this incredible yacht traveling around the world, picking up multiple cultures. Wow.

Now, the UK is this stunning melting pot. We're central Europe. We're 26 miles away from France. And it's got some of the best... best food in Europe now. We can rub shoulders with the French. We can rub shoulders in the US. And yeah, it's a nation to be proud of now. Not to get political, but do you think Brexit kind of is dulling the cuisine influence? I think it's putting a bit of a wedge between those incredible countries. The crossover was beautiful. I love a wedge.

With blue cheese and bacon? Sorry. Oh, shit. So, yeah, I never get into politics. I stay out of that shit because customers come to be neutral and to break bread without some chef spouting out. But the influence of all of those countries that are so... close to England, I'm sure, helped to influence the cuisine there. Massively. But no longer. Massively.

What would you say? Lay to rest or explain if you can for our listener. When an Englishman describes having his dinner, his supper, his tea, and where they all fit. What time of day they fit and how they can be distinguished one from the other. Yeah, that's a great question. First of all, I went to school with porridge, which is your oatmeal, right? We didn't use milk. We used it with salt. I remember my father saying to me once that you're going to be making your...

oatmeal with salt. And I said, Dad, why puts hairs on your bollocks? I'm like, okay. Okay. So we start off with... Porridge, oatmeal. And then lunch is just a basic sandwich. And then you come home for your tea. And tea is a dinner, but it's called tea because you never ask for dinner. Dinner was a posh word. You went home. for tea. And sometimes that would be a jam sandwich. Sometimes that could be fish and chips, steak and kidney pie, but you had your tea. And back in those days, you just...

you got what your mom served you, right? You never questioned that. Is that not traditionally at four o'clock? No, I think you're thinking of the sort of high tea, the afternoon tea. That's different. Oh, that's what I thought it was. Yeah, so yeah, tea's dinner.

So you hear like a guy coming back, especially, you know, 50, 60 years ago, a guy had come back from, you know, when they used to have the coal mines and that's all gone now, but they'd come back and he'd say, you know, he'd come back, go home to have his tea, right, Gordon? That's right. That's exactly that, going home for tea.

US Food Scene and Guilty Pleasures

Does the United States, in your opinion, have elevated cuisine at all? I mean, like... Oh, my God. Definitely. Absolutely, definitely, without a doubt. Yeah, okay. I mean, you always have to go to the cities, like the big cities, to get it, right?

Yeah, I think the biggest shock when I first came over here years ago was just the size of the breakfast. And then on the side of the breakfast, you've got a fucking fruit salad on your breakfast as well. So it turns into like a mini dessert. That's not the way you want to start the day, right? Right, right. God, they say it's the most important meal of the day, but it should be your lightest meal of the day. And then you build up to that. But chefs are notorious.

for sort of eating because we graze. So everyone says, you're not eating? You're not hungry? No, we've just grown up grazing because if you don't taste everything before it goes out, then how do you perfect that level of utter... beautiful, stunning food. So we have small spoons. And so I can't go out and eat. I think, Will, last time you saw me, like, you're just picking? You're not eating properly? Do you have an eating disorder? I'm like, no, no. We just can't eat.

starter app's main dessert. Yeah, you did it. That's exactly right. You didn't. You didn't go through the whole thing. You just had sort of little bits and pieces. Gordon, I work a bit in Atlanta and I'm always really surprised and excited. Oh, here we go. Plugging Atlanta again. And excited. And excited about how great the restaurants are there. What's the last city that surprised you in the States with its cuisine?

I'd say Austin, Austin, Texas. Oh, really? Powerful. Oh, my goodness me. I'm just talking about barbecue. There's some incredible ethnic restaurants there. And from Filipino to great Greek restaurants.

Japanese, Asian-inspired, yeah, Austin, Texas. What other than naturally French cuisine, which is sort of almost like the granddaddy of them all in a way, and other than... than going out for that what is the what is your sort of guilty pleasure meal to go out for that you're like just go and have a Chinese or whatever you know what I mean yeah I mean I spent three years training in France two years in Paris and a year down the south of France and I absolutely adore

It's just the French I can't fucking stand. Don't worry, they're not listening. Do you speak French? I do, yes, I do. Do you speak Italian too and Spanish? Yeah. But not fluent. French is where it's at. And we've still got restaurants. Gordon, I had a French waiter once say to me, I said, everybody else is ordering drinks. And I said, I'll have a Diet Coke. And he goes, American champagne. I was like, hey, fuck you. Fuck you, dude. They just have the most romantic ways.

of describing food. We have grilled cheese, cheese and toast. They have fucking hot monsieur. We have mashed potatoes. They have pom puree. We have apple pie. They have a dot de pom. But it is good. It is delicious. So other than French cuisine, What's your guilty pleasure? What's your thing that you're like, oh, I'm going to go and have that?

Oh, God. I'm a big fan of In-N-Out Burger. I love burgers, honestly. Yeah, I do too. A great smash burger. I just love burgers. I absolutely adore burgers. Did that just start, the smash burger? And what it is, literally, you just make the...

The patty, not fat and juicy, you make it thin and little. Thin, yeah, it's better. Cameralized, yeah. Social media has popularized it for sure. Yeah, and the bun, the bun too, right? So it kind of becomes a little bit more sort of dense. Yes, like a sandwich.

Whenever I would go to a hotel and order, it'd be gigantic, the burger, and you couldn't even get your mouth in it. And then it was like a mess. They ask you how you want it cooked. Jesus, Sean, your blood pressure's going up. Relax, okay? They're going to fix the burger. Christ. But also you get a much better... on that smash burger because you roll and then literally smash it.

Most Proud Dishes and Cooking Tips

immediately, the minute it's being pressed onto that griddle. And then literally 90 seconds each side, it's caramelized, it's juicy. And you can do a double stack on that as well and really identify the flavor that means. What's the dish you think, what dish are you most proud of? What dish do you think you make them?

you make so many. What tips do you think you make really well? And it could be as simple as an omelette. What's the thing that you do really well, in your opinion? There's two things. When we took over Clarities back in 2004, I sort of re... reintroduce the fillet of beef wellington, which is a showstopper. And that's just like your perfect sort of go-to. That's like beef and a pastry, right? Yeah, I love it.

Is that what it is? I don't think I've ever had it. I don't think I've ever had it. It's delicious. And then second is scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs for me are... I knew it. So important. Because anything... Rubber, anything overcooked, undercooked. There's nothing worse, honestly. And then every time I see chefs put fucking eggs in a microwave, I scream. I just, oh no. Some of the best scrambled eggs I ever had in my life was at the Hotel Georges Sank.

Oh, there you go. Amazing. Of course. They put a little cream in it, right? Well, I asked the guy, I said, how do you get them so soft and creamy? And I don't know if he's joking with me. Go fuck yourself. With just a dash of go fuck yourself. With all these questions, stupid American, shut up. You like to know the magic? In French, it's fat for food. Yeah. Fat for food.

Yes. What does that mean? Go fuck yourself. Wait, but so I don't know if he was joking. He said American cheese, right? And I'm like, no, that can't be. Wait, I come home. Listen to this. I come home. I make scrambled eggs, soft scrambled eggs, really slow. And I put Kraft singles in them.

It's incredible. Let me tell you. Let me tell you. I'm going to make it for you. Corden just punched a hole in the wall. It makes it sweet and creamy. Somebody once put a little cottage cheese in scrambled eggs. It was pretty good. No, no, no. The secret behind any great scrambled egg is stopping the cooking because if you don't stop the cooking, they'll just overcook and turn it into rubber. So it's a teaspoon of creme fraiche or a little tablespoon.

of cream, and that just slows the process down. Sean, he was fucking with you. He just wanted to keep you in America. He wanted you to go home and stay home. You know what? The one thing I do, like, here's my guilty pleasure eggs. I will say this. My guilty pleasure eggs in Southern California, especially in... is chorizo and eggs with a little bit of cheese. That I love. Beautiful. And corned beef hash.

Yeah, there you go. Eggs we can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. That's the nice thing about eggs. That's the simplicity behind eggs. And it's something I taught all the kids, you know, our kids to make, you know, from the ages of six.

Great scrambled eggs. And is it true that the cholesterol in eggs has been dispelled? They're fine for you is what I hear? Yeah, it's the balance, isn't it? I mean, you don't eat that every day. So we'll do scrambled eggs maybe at the weekend, Saturday or Sunday. Okay. We'll be right back.

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Raising Six Kids and Family Balance

All right, back to the show. Wait, but go back to your kids because you have six kids. Good for you. Six children. And I read that you missed the birth of your first four kids on purpose. Is that right? Hold on, you're going to get me into shit here. Let's make one thing absolutely clear. I know, but my wife didn't want me in there. She said, first of all, I want my mum and your mum in here. You're not going to fucking see me in that state. Okay?

that side of the curtain, get out of there. Okay, okay. So that was her decision. I had to respect that decision. And then when I did... Finally arrive in the theater for our fifth baby. I fucking clapped like a wimp. Oh, no. And I blacked out holding Oscar in the air. Yes. I was so fucking... Holding the baby?

They said, what do you want to listen to? It was coming through the sunroof. And so there's a lot of commotions going on. It was a C-section? Yes. Yeah, yeah, I've been there. Do you call that the sunroof? Yeah. I've been for all three of my sons.

I said, can you play Ed Sheeran? So they started playing Ed. If you turn up the volume, I can hear all these noises. Turn up the volume. And all of a sudden, I saw two more doctors dive in. I looked on the floor and there was blood everywhere. Oh, God. They popped him out.

and then they came straight over to me, and I went, whoa, whoa, whoa, shit. Yeah, and I sat back, and then I clapped like a fucking idiot. My second son, my second son, they came through on the radio. You could just hear very low. Young hearts, be free. I love that song. I know, me too. It was so bizarre. That's great. And then, Gord, how do you, forgive me for asking, but I think it's incredible you have all of these business ventures. You just go, go, go. The drive, the ambition, the success.

What is your rules of balancing all of the family life and the work life? Yeah, that's a great question. So balance is critical. We got the right kind of support. Every time we were filming throughout the US, the kids would come with us and then we would take them out of school two weeks early, put them back two weeks late, so we'd do their sort of...

filming schedules around the school schedules. It's a lot easier now. We had four amazing kids and then Tana and I had this crazy idea to go back for more. And so there's quite a big gap. Megan, she's our eldest. She's 26. She's an incredible police officer.

back in London. Oh, that's great. Then we have the twins at 25. Jack's a Royal Marine Commando. Holly's into a fashion. And then there's Matilda, who's 23, who's literally just come back from culinary school, would you believe? Oh, yeah. And a beautiful school called Ballymalade.

I am a little bit miffed the fact that she didn't ask me to train her. She's gone off elsewhere to come back to the fold. Yeah, she's seen the shows. That's the problem. So it sounds like you made all your... Did all your kids have... Did they all work? as they were growing up and have jobs and do things and have direction? Yeah, yeah. And you always make them fly coach or something? 100%. And I tried to explain to them what they could do with the money.

when they land, because we're all getting on and getting off together. So understand the difference. And secondly, no disrespect, an eight-year-old or a 10-year-old, they don't need fucking business class or first class, or even as a teenager, they shouldn't be used to that kind of exposure. Right. So you get up, you'll walk a bread roll from first class back to them.

Bread roll. Oh, the bread's so hot up front. Here's a couple. I'll be right back. I'll be back in about an hour to check on you. Yeah. I said, turn fucking right and do not disturb us for the next 12 hours. All right. You're doing them a service though. Because otherwise you're depriving your kids of learning how to live life and how to do things if you don't provide that for them, I think. Yeah, and also removing their hunger.

And so it's not about excelling at school with A-stars and A's everywhere. It's about creating individuals. Well, give them a direction of something that they want to do. And values, Will. Give them the values. Install those values.

and they can't depend on the mom and dad. I'm not perfect at it. I'm not suggesting that I am. You know, because I got net jets on the other line. They want to talk to you about your parents next week. No, but I mean, you know, look, look, you've got your daughter, you got her into directing and she came and worked on your show.

and you've got to sort of into the thing and give them a dress. My kids are working this summer. They're teenagers. They've got jobs. Give them a start and then see what they do with it. Exactly. I want them to have an idea of what it takes to make their own living and take care of themselves. I work at a furniture shop. We don't care.

How many times? How is that mic still on? Fucking, it's unreal. Gordon's here, and he's talking about his family. I'm trying to speak. Let the guy, he's our guest. I didn't know what I was doing. Gordon, what do you, how do you feel, what, you know, so you, the rest,

Restaurant Business Versus TV Career

restaurant business, you know, you love, you killed it, and then you get into the television business, you know it, you love it, you're killing it. Is there a similarity between the two? Is there an appeal that is shared with both, or do you love one over the other? or how does that all fit in? Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I think it's the level of creativity, I think, that I enjoy most about the TV.

I hate it when shows are cancelled, so I'm always a firm believer in taking your own show down first before you get cancelled. And so there's nothing worse when something gets cancelled. Fuck it, I'll come up with a better idea so you don't take me down and replace it with that.

Also, I think not standing still. I think that's one thing growing up watching mum handle three jobs. Even on Christmas Day, we wouldn't see her to 5pm in the afternoon because I knew she was coming in from the night shift working in a hospital. So you grow up with that work ethic. And I mentioned it earlier. just the fear of not having it there one day, but just the value you have where you are and how long it's taken to master your craft and that crossover.

into the TV world is sort of hand in love because it's real, okay? The shows are real. I take it serious. It's not about like... camera action. I'm not a big fan of the shiny floor stuff. I love the raw stuff if I'm honest. Oh, Rob is mad at you for saying that. He's always mad at me. He loves the shiny floor.

No, no, but even when we are on the shiny floor, I want to keep it real, okay? I want to keep it really real. Right, right. Are you able to stop and enjoy the fruits of your labor and all the success? I mean, because every time we talk about... about your shows and your work. You just...

You love what you do and like you said, you just go, go, go. Are you able to just stop and go, wow, look at this and actually vacation and calm down for a bit? Pat yourself on the back. Yeah, I'm not very good at patting myself on the back. What I do do, when I'm off, I'm off.

De-stressing Through Triathlon Training

Every six months, there's either an Ironman or a marathon. And so there's this sort of date that I build up to. My next Ironman is coming in Luxembourg. Ironman. A triathlon. Triathlon. Oh, got it, got it. And so my wife competes as well. She loves it. We spend a lot of time together swimming, cycling, and running. And so we have that nice little balance. Do you have a first gear? Do you ever shift? A lot of people are scared of that level of exercise. For me, it's...

it's a way of relaxing. I know it sounds crazy, but it is a way. Sean, is that what keeps you? Is it fear? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just fear of exercising. You might start sweating. Fear of exercising. Yeah, I don't want to sweat. That's impressive. What's your strongest? God, that's hard. Sport, what's your weakest? The swim and the bike are strong. No, everyone's traced out over the swim.

To be honest, everyone overworks that swim to shave two minutes off their time, which is crazy. I remember sitting in the deep water start in Hawaii for Kona Ironman, and there's 2,500 athletes where you had to swim out 200 meters.

and then weighed, you know, tread water for 10 minutes before the cannon went off at half five in the morning. I thought, my God, this is the most beautiful moment of my life. And then the visibility was 30 meters. The swim was 3.8K. No wetsuits because there's a lot of... salt in that water so you're naturally buoyant and I put my goggles on and I'm looking underneath like

Fuck, it's like being in a live Finding Nemo down here. The fish were everywhere. I started conjuring up ideas for dishes, etc. And then I got out of the swim super relaxed and then onto the bike because... I do relax when I train because I just get into that rhythm and I de-stress and I offload and then I'm uncontactable. I think that's the most important part about shutting off.

no one get hold of me. No one knows that. JB, you like that. You have a meditative quality to your workouts, too. Like, you like to run for six miles and be kind of... non-contactable i i do yeah it is it's just nice i think just the discipline right and it's solitary it's just you against your body your will your your your discipline um yeah i i i do enjoy it hey

Mother's Influence and Buying Houses

Gordon, you mentioned your mom a couple of times. She sounds like she was a huge influence on you. Is she still with us? Was she able to see and appreciate your success? Yeah. Mum's 78. She's down in Taunton, southwest of England. My first ambition after winning our third Michelin star was after selling our house to go and get that lease because the bank wouldn't back us.

tangible asset I had. After winning our third star, the first time we ever come into any money, I went and bought mum her first house. And so for her to have that in her 50s, something that she's never grown up with was just one of the most exciting things. We have so many similarities. Sean, you did the same thing. You brought your dad a new set of tires, right? Because he really burned through those first ones getting the hell out of there. A real flat spot on hell. Shit.

And he ripped the rear views off too, right? Shit, you guys. Honestly. Oh, my God. While the wheel was spinning, he ripped the rear view mirror off, threw it out the window. I think he hit Sean and Tracy both in the forehead with it. Then the tires tracked up and off he went. And we haven't been closer since. My God. Wait, Gordon, but so many similarities. We don't have to go into it, but my mom, super hard workhorse. I learned everything from her. Grew up really poor. Five kids.

Dad was nowhere. And similar. I just have a lot of the same drive that you do. And it's great to talk to you about all of that. I get it. I get where it comes from. And you bought your mom a house. And I bought my mom a house too, yeah. Yeah, it's amazing. It's the best gift you could ever give. By the way, I've told this story a million times. I'll tell it later. It's my mom. I did this big moment for her where I moved her into a condo. This is when you gave her the monocle?

My mom has one eye, Gordon. She had one eye, yeah. And so she... I moved into a condo while I built her this big mansion for all of us to live in. And I had that big movie, that bus moment where I filled it with the furniture and the silver. Literally, she just had to bring her toothbrush. And she walks in and she was so shocked.

so surprised she was crying her eye out and she and she she's literally touched the couch and she said um i don't know that i would have picked out that couch but everything else is like that and that instead of like

And that really... All three of us have the same mom. That's mothers. That's crazy. I remember when she came to Clarity for the first time and she was like the guest of honor for the opening party. And they put her upstairs in the penthouse suite. And the butler came in and said, Mrs. Ramsey, can I kind of...

to run your bath and she said certainly not I can run my own bath thank you very much oh my god honestly and then I flew over to LA and we got this beautiful house up in Bel Air Crest and it's beautiful the views are It's a dream. And she was looking after the kids while Tana and I went for a run, funnily enough. I came back and I said, you're okay? She said, yeah, I'm just wondering. You're the neighbours. I said, yeah, what's wrong with them? She said, no one's got their washing out.

I said, for fuck's sake, bud. No one hangs their washing out. Our neighbor for 10 years was Stevie Wonder, who lived next door to us. And the sweetest guy, the sweetest guy. Yeah, I bet. And mum... Didn't even know it was Stevie Wonder. And I'm like, mum.

I had to sing another fucking song. Oh, is that? I'm like, for God's sake. I'll pop round and ask if you'd like a cup of tea. He said, no, no, no, mum. You don't pop round to your neighbor's house. You can't do that in LA. Security will take you away. I love that.

Rapid Fire Questions and Food Hates

No, so, by the way, you have a new show coming out, which I'll completely watch, called Gordon Ramsay's Secret Service, right? When does that come out, by the way? Like May? Yeah, just when does it come out? Maybe it's already out. Secret Service?

May 21st. Fuck, I should know that. Rob's going to kill me. Okay, so it's already out by the time this comes. Yeah. By the time this comes, it's already out. Why do you think, this is one of the dumbest questions, but I can't get enough of food shows. And why do you, what is the huge appeal?

What is it that taps into people that are obsessed? Why is everybody obsessed with watching how food gets made? It's something we do three times a day, seven days a week. Breakfast, lunch, we eat. I know, but still, why would you want to watch somebody do it? I think to make yourself feel better. And everyone wants to be better at it. Exactly that. I think, you know, there's so much to learn.

about food. There's so much enjoyment to cooking. And it's emotional. And so those emotions, as you know, run high. And Secret Service is everything I've learned over the last 20 years working in the US, from talented producers to great creators. is in this show. Yeah, yeah.

I can't wait to see it. It looks so good. I can't cook. Can you guys cook at all? No, I can't even boil water. I can make sloppy joes. That's it. But is it a farewell? Is it something that you... Is it intimidating? No, it's one of those things. Every once in a while, out of the blue, it'll occur to me like, I should...

Learn how to cook. And then it goes out of my head and I don't think about it again. And I don't know what it is. No? Sean? No, it's like I'm not interested. You know, I'll get like in the winter, I'll get into baking and I'll bring these guys. over stuff like that I make a lot of the times. And then once I get into the rhythm of like...

making cheesecakes and cookies and whatever it is. I'm like, oh, I kind of see it. But it's the mess and then the cleaning up. Yeah, that's the thing that keeps me away from it. The ratio between the prep, the cook. the cleanup versus the eating and the enjoyment. It's such a small wedge is the eating. I almost don't want to eat it after I make it.

I know, it's just so much time to clean it up and to prep it. I should get into that. And I also love the fact that there's a roadmap, like a recipe book. You can just like, it literally tells you step-by-step what you need to do to get what looks great and it's going to take... It tastes great. It's dummy proof. But the fulfillment is immense. When you get over those bums and you see that thing on the plate, it's like, wow. You can do it with your kids.

But I will say that the thing I do understand about what you do is when you do make something great and you serve it and somebody says, That's the best blank or whatever I've ever had. There is like a ego boost that you're like, oh, I did that. Like that's, you know. It's a great payoff, but you can be taught, okay? All this bullshit about you have to be brought into it. Do you have an educated palate? And, you know, do you have to be natural?

absolute bullshit how do I go from a yes yes yes yes and so I'm a little bit different to a lot of chefs. I teach my chefs to taste first before we learn to cook because if you don't understand how it tastes perfectly, you shouldn't be cooking it. Too many chefs don't taste their food. And so we go through a little sort of series of blind taste tests.

where we'll have five, seven, nine, 11 items on the plate. And they cannot get to cook those items unless they understand the taste. So blindfold on. Yeah. Teaspoon at a time and describe the taste, describe the texture, describe the perfect flavor. I love that. Do you hate doing the washing up? That's the other thing.

Yeah, I mean, the kids always complain that I never do the washing up. I said, well, come on, guys. You want me to cook and wash up? Jeez. Growing up around mum, there was no such thing as dishwashers back then. You just got in and dug deep and washed up. But I am a very smart and tidy...

worker. I don't make a mess. Of course you are. I sort of clean down everywhere I go. A bit of OCD going on. So yeah, the kids are good at cleaning. All right, a couple of rapid fires here because I know we got to let you go. You're a car fanatic. What car do you drive? What car do you wish you had?

It depends where I am and it depends who I'm with. The majority of the cars we have are all in this incredible hangar that we've just built. Oh, my God, that's amazing. And I'm embarrassed about the collection. I've been collecting for over 20 years. Oh, wow. Don't be. The only way I really...

get to understand these cars is on the track. So three or four times a year, we'll rent a track out. Wow. Truck them down there. I bring in mates. Silverstone? Silverstone and Thruxton are two big tracks. Thruxton's the biggest track in the UK. And what's your favorite one to drive? Oh, it's like saying who's the favorite kit. I would say I still love that little Super Laguera Aston Martin DB4 or the Ferrari SP3 Monza. Extraordinary piece of kit. How many cars do you think you got?

I think it's about 94. 94 cars. Good for you, Gordon. That is really cool. That's really cool. I love that. So you hate pineapple on pizza. I do too. What is the other shit that you hate? And what's another thing that you absolutely cannot stand combined? Cold foams, man. When I see foam on a plate... What's cold foams? Foam. When chefs start aerating stuff and putting foam on a plate, that's for your fucking chin. Shave with foam. Don't fucking eat it. Right, right.

And that disgusting, sticky, inseparate balsamic glaze, I love it. I'm with you. You don't like it either. It's too sticky and gross. I hate that shit. And I think you already answered this, but the one food that you... if you had to live with one dish for the rest of your life, I think it would be a hamburger. Is that correct? No, it's going to be eggs. It'd be a hamburger all day long. Same. Smashburger. Smashburger. With cheese.

No, no, no, no. No, just a beautiful smash burger. Don't deter from the flavor of that beef. Lettuce and tomato? No. No, no, no. Just a bun. Just the burger and the bread. There you go. Are you serious? Nice. Really? No ketchup? Everyone puts lettuce and tomato. No, they put lettuce and tomato on there to make you feel fucking better as if it's healthy. Right. Here's your salad all at once. We've become accustomed. I like yellow mustard. I've become a...

in the last five years of old school plain yellow mustard. It's the best. It's so good. It's the best. In New York, they don't sell it. You can't find it anywhere. It's so frustrating. No, because everything is Dijon or some sort of version of... It's like spicy whatever. Yeah.

Admiration for Gordon Ramsay and Wrap Up

Anyways, talk about spicy. Gordon, you're the best. Yeah, really. It's such an honor to meet you. I've been such a fan for so long, and I really have watched every episode. And I was just in the UK a couple months ago for a stretch, and I found, and I never knew it existed.

Kitchen Nightmares. It was Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares before you came here to do it. And I was like, oh my God, it was a channel that had it on 24-7. I watched every episode of that. I just, I'm just, I love it. I love you. I just love everything you do. So I thank you guys for being on.

Congrats on Smartless, by the way. Thank you, Tom. It's my one-to-go-to every week when we download, and yeah. Very nice. Thank you, guys. It's an honor to have you. Thanks, man. So good to see you. Thank you so much. Thanks, Card. Cheers, guys. Thank you, guys. Thanks, Sean. Thanks, Will. Bye-bye. Bye, guys. Thank you, Jason. Bye-bye. Bye, buddy.

He barely thanked you at the end there, JB. Did you hear that? He was like, oh, yeah, thanks, Jason. Couldn't remember the name. It's hard. It's a tough one. Because he was going to say Justin like everybody else, right? He was going to say, thanks, Justin. I got one the other day. It had been a while. I'm so bummed because I'm such a, I really watch everything he does. And I was so excited to bring him on and surprise you guys. And there's like, you're like, oh, hey, Gordon, what's going on?

I was like, I didn't know you knew him. Jason and I saw him recently. Well, sorry, we're not like some crazy super cooking show fan freak. No, I didn't know you knew him. In fact, I've never seen one of his shows, but I will now. And I do enjoy a cooking show.

have not seen one. Yeah, I know. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. And he's... Well, I mean, like, who's like... I walked through the airport the other day and I saw this restaurant called Plain Food. P-L-A-N-E. I was like, oh, that's clever. It's Gordon Ramsay. Yeah. There you go. And an airport. In an airport of all places. He's got a restaurant. I mean, he's... Yeah, he's doing very well. You got to do well to buy 93 cars. Okay? Yeah. It's insane. 93.

Did he say 94? I think he said 94, yeah. Did he say 94? He just bought another one. Golly, good for him, you know? I know, I know. Yeah, he's great, I love him. I'd love to go to his, where did he say it was in Chelsea? Yeah. Chelsea, let's go. Let's go. You know what? Let's go see Shawnee's play. Yeah. And we'll go for dinner there. Let's do that. And then what about when you're in England doing it?

Yeah. No, it's in Chelsea, New York? In London, I think, isn't it? Oh, great. Okay. Yeah, well, I mean, it's... Let's do it. Let's do that. And we'll get to... Bradley's been there. Yeah. Okay. How about that? End of story? Yeah, I mean, just like that he's held out on us. I didn't know that he'd been to this three Michelin star. Right. We'll go to the restaurant. Yeah.

We'll sit down. It's rare that he doesn't build up, so let him know. I know. I'm like letting him. We'll sit down and we'll just have a nice quick bye. Bye. Bye. That was good. That was really good, yeah. Smart. List. Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Rob Armjarf, Bennett Barbaco, and Michael Granteri. Smart Less.

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