From the New York Post comes a flash headline on Gordon Ramsay:
Celeb Chef’s Empire in Free Fall
Some excerpts:
His flagship London restaurant, Foxtrot Oscar, has shuttered for two days a week. Reports have also surfaced that two other London restaurants, Ramsay’s Sloane Street and The Devonshire Pub, are for sale – a claim he denies – and documents show he allegedly owes back taxes.
Last year, the charismatic cook was stripped of two coveted Michelin stars when protégé Chef Marcus Wareing split from him, effectively taking the renowned Petrus restaurant with him.
And he was replaced at London’s prestigious Connaught Hotel restaurant by French chef Helene Darroze.
His kitchen nightmares extend to the bedroom, too, with recent embarrassing headline-grabbing accounts that the married Scotsman had a seven-year affair.
To make matters worse, Ramsay, 42, just fired his p.r. guru, Garry Farrow, the man heralded with helping him become the top celebrity chef in the world, not to mention the richest, with a personal fortune of $83 million.
[…]
The culinary world is abuzz with rumors that Ramsay’s restaurants are asking for extended time to pay suppliers – in some cases, as long as six to eight months, though the chef’s reps strongly deny this.
As Ramsay gears up for the season premiere of “Hell’s Kitchen” Thursday on Fox, the unpleasant task of restructuring has been left in the hands of Chris Hutcheson, his father-in-law and the chief executive of Gordon Ramsay Holdings.
Establishing the precise impact of the credit crunch on Ramsay’s business empire is no easy task. Figures for 2007 should have been filed months ago, but the company often sends in late returns, which has prompted legal warnings that prosecution is imminent.
Well-placed figures concede that the company is “finding life pretty tough at the moment,” as evidenced by the fact that there is a newspaper promotion offering dinner at Gordon Ramsay restaurants for just $21 a head.
A chef with $83 million. Somehow I think he’ll be alright…
Video extra: “Gordon Ramsay’s only famous ’cause he swears like fuck.”
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My UK colleagues are all over this as well. I’d be suprised if the Devonshire is up for sale it is super busy all the tie as is the Narrow. I think the opening of his hotel may have sucked up alot of cash flow. How migty the fallen or falling? Should be interesting times ahead.
I’m not the biggest fan of his US persona, but he’s obviously very successful at turning his failures into success. I am sure he will come out of this even richer than he is now, even if it means a restructuring, or even disolving of his empire.
I just want him to stop taking his shirt off!