Gordon Ramsay given rock star reception at Westfield Doncaster
FANS queued up for up to 12 hours to meet UK super chef Gordon Ramsay at Westfield Doncaster. But did the Kitchen Nightmares host keep his famously fruity “industry language” under control?
Fiona Byrne
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UK super chef Gordon Ramsay’s popularity is certainly not off the boil, with the culinary TV favourite given a rock star reception in Melbourne.
Fans queued for up to 12 hours to meet Ramsay at a Royal Doulton/Hachette Australia event at Westfield Doncaster on Saturday.
So hot was the cooking king that a fire alarm — thankfully a false alarm — went off as the time for his arrival approached.
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More than 600 people turned out the see the Kitchen Nightmares host, who kept his famously fruity language under control. A mere two swear words passed his lips during his 90 minutes appearance.
“It is an industry language,” he said of his legendary F-bombs.
“Everybody makes mistakes and sometimes the naughty F-word drops out.
“You should see the kind of sh*t I have to eat, you should see some of the crap that gets put in front of me when we do Kitchen Nightmares or Hotel Hell or MasterChef America, not MasterChef Australia.”
Ramsay is in Australia to film MasterChef in Melbourne, however first he plans to spend Sunday at the Australian Open.
“I’m filming Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, then Thursday flying back to Vegas where we have a new Hell’s Kitchen restaurant opening, our first ever,” he said.
Ramsay is one of the key international stars taking part in the new season of MasterChef along with Nigella Lawson who finished filming her stint on the show just days ago.
Ramsay revealed to the crowd he once named his children’s pet turkey, Nigella, after Lawson as it was “a bird with big breasts.”
Coburg chef Daniel Shaw arrived at the Westfield shopping centre at 12.30am on Saturday to ensure he was first in line to meet Ramsay. Twelve hours later the pair shook hands and chatted.
“He is a very passionate chef and inspirational,” Shaw said.
At seven months pregnant Knox resident Siobhan O’Neill, arrived at 6am with a chair and food supplies to ensure her comfort while waiting for Ramsay’s midday arrival.
“I love Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares and I wanted to see him,” she said.
“It’s been worth the wait and I’ve made friends with the people around me.”
Many other fans arrived between 2am and 3am.
Ramsay said his fearsome fiery reputation was a result of his desire for perfection.
“Everybody knows pressure is tough,” he said.
“When I started cooking I always wanted to win three Michelin stars.
“So at that level I want to be a perfectionist.
“So I don’t tolerate ignorance, I don’t tolerate sloppiness.
“Competitions like MasterChef and Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, I want the best, so I push them (contestants) to the very, very, very limit.
“And sometimes there are a few heated exchanges, which I think is healthy because you get it off your chest, you get straight to the point and then you move on.
“And then let’s not forget that I was in their shoes once and every time I got told off I learnt, I never made that mistake twice and so the process of being told off is (part of) the process of being more educated.”
He said he would love to open another restaurant in Melbourne after his first venture at Crown failed.
“I would love, love to come back here, I swear to god, I’d love to,” he said.
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