Gordon Ramsey at Claridges
I recently had the pleasure of been invited to dinner at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant at Claridges in London . I must admit that I am a bit of a fan . I really enjoyed his no nonsense approach when helping out restaurants in his Kitchen nightmares series . More recently I have enjoyed getting into The F Word and having recently got SKY+ at home I can record all these programmes and watch them at my leisure .
When I started out in the hotel business I was very fortunate to spend some time in Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland when it was a British Transport Hotel and 5 star service was provided ,regardless of cost . I worked in the main restaurant and service was in the classical French style .This was hierarchy style of service I thought that had all but disappeared in restaurants over the last two decades . It was a very pleasant surprise to see this traditional level of service live on at Gordon Ramseys given the labour intensity that is required .While the service and atmosphere were great is was the food that excelled .We all went for the seven course tasting menu at £75 per person .It was great to see and to be able to sample some of the dishes featured on the chefs TV shows . I enjoyed trying the pea soup and poached quail egg ,mind you it looked better on TV .The beef wellington main course was the ‘tour de force’ ,a traditional dish cooked to perfection . A lot of tasting menus in restaurants can often leave you feeling hungry ,but not in this case portions were generous . I have no doubt that Chef Ramsey was nowhere near the restaurant but his influence was everywhere and his professional team did him justice . All we were missing was some expletives coming from the kitchen ,but perhaps that is the image ,strikes me Gordon Ramsey is a shrewd business man and if he continues to deliver the quality we enjoyed in Claridges ,he can only go from strength to strength .If you are in London ,put this on the list of restaurants to visit ,even better if you can get someone else to invite you . Thanks Alexis !!