An interesting article:
Chef Gordon Ramsay's actually a 'Hell' of a guy
His foul-mouthed outbursts send chills down the spine. But his Michelin-starred cuisine sends salivary glands into overdrive.
He's a dichotomy, that Gordon Ramsay, host of yet another season (actually the fourth) of Hell's Kitchen, the reality show in which the winner gets his or her own restaurant, which premiered Tuesday.
But then geniuses usually are.
In a recent conference call with reporters, Ramsay seemed -- dare we say it? -- pleasant. The Scottish celebuchef, 41, also seems to actually care about the quivering contestants whom he rakes over the coals each week.
Some outtakes (no worries; he kept it pretty clean):
What's it like to run a restaurant?
It's something you have to be working at each and every day; it's not a foregone conclusion that you're a success. How many restaurants do we know across the world that customers visit once and once only? The second visit is far more important.''
Secrets to success?
Focus on your customers and make that restaurant synonymous to where you are in terms of area. Make sure you stay in touch with what's keeping in the area; not what's going on in Barcelona, not what's happening in the middle of Paris.''
What do you tell people who do the show to become a star?
Getting my a-- kicked and working my n--- off the way I did in France and getting pushed around those kitchens wasn't about becoming famous. It's learning your craft and understanding what it takes to survive in this industry.''
What celebrity would you want to cook for?
I'm cooking for Nelson Mandela's birthday party in Hyde Park N.Y., this summer, which I've been invited to do. I suppose if I wanted something really fun and sexy, it'd have to be Cameron Diaz. She's tall, she's beautiful and she loves pink meat.''
Why do you use such bad language?
I don't like cursing. It's the industry language and any chef would be a hypocrite if they didn't admit to swearing in the kitchen. It's something I'm not proud of. Every time I get reminded of that by my mother.
More importantly, I have four young children. My wife is a schoolteacher. I can switch it off. I have an outside life. I'm not forecasting for my first heart attack at the age of 41 and secondly, I'm not going anywhere near a divorce.''
Source:
http://www.miamiherald.com/358/story/485752.html
