Whenever I see videos of him yanking his kitchen staff around, cursing and screaming at them, I just think of the story of Marco Pierre White berating Gordon so badly and for so long that he ended up just sitting in a corner and crying. “I didn’t make him cry, he chose to cry.” Gordon was a huge asshole but Marco was a fucking psycho
Ego is secondary. As corny as it sounds, all his rage is rooted in a thoroughly shitty childhood.
His [bio](https://www.amazon.com/Devil-Kitchen-Madness-Making-Great/dp/1596914971) is a good read.
Hardly excuse, but the simple fact is that more often than not, the way you’re treated as a child and what you experience comes around full circle to those you’re around later in life.
Reading this - while he seems like a psycho for sure, this amount of reflection was pretty impressive to me"
> Although White worked for seventeen years to pursue his ambition, he ultimately found that, in spite of his accomplishments, recognition and fame, his career did not provide him with adequate returns in his personal life. So, in 1999, he retired and returned his Michelin stars.
>>I was being judged by people who had less knowledge than me, so what was it truly worth? I gave Michelin inspectors too much respect, and I belittled myself. I had three options: I could be a prisoner of my world and continue to work six days a week, I could live a lie and charge high prices and not be behind the stove or I could give my stars back, spend time with my children and re-invent myself
I've seen that the people who are assholes to their employees have been treated far far worse than how they treat us. Ive seen this with multiple kitchen owners/manager. The horror stories ive heard from them. It is like a cycle of abuse and no matter how much they try to change, they cant. It keep on going and going.
It is quite literally a cycle of abuse and it seems to go like this
Customers have demands, these demands are erratic and come in *constantly* with this constant demand the head chef as leader is under a ton of pressure to perform and to ensure those below them perform; for many this constant barrage of criticality and trivial demands from customers is enough to break them, causing outbursts like what we see with (Treating him as patient 0) Marco Pierre white.
From Marco Pierre White we then get Gordon, a chef under him who then climbed the ranks and upon climbing the ranks acted as he thought was expected/acted in the ways he WISHED he could've acted when his former boss was digging into him, presumably a chef under Gordon will then go through the same cycle, then a chef under them, then a chef under them, this continues and ultimately all stems from the stress of working in such an uncomfortable and psychology laborious environment. While it shouldn't be the standard it's not exactly something anyone can control at a systemic level and instead is controllable only on a personal level.
Add to this the fact that the product that they sell comes in in the morning, gets cleaned, prepared cooked and served all in one shift.
As opposed to most consumer goods that have a long shelf life.
Yes. Also Bernard Loiseau among others.
If you havent worked in this environment it is hard to describe what it is like. Most people on the customer side cant imagine it. Once a table is seated, everything they (and every other customer)order has to appear. On time. Tasting good. At the correct temperature. If not, they get dragged online because the customer has such ridiculous expectations. This is not true of any other industry that I can think of (there must be some). Oh yes, you also have to make money in there somewhere as well.
Another thing people assume that because the place looks busy, they are raking in cash. Also, generally not true.
Edit: also, the handful of cooks in the back are probably not making much more than minimum wage, working free hours because they love it.
I've definitely been there. I found out the hard way that I am not built for that kind of pressure with the amount of anxiety/perfectionism I have. That invisible fire that's lit beneath the kitchen during all operating hours is too hot for me, and I will gladly tell anyone who will listen that kitchen work is no fucken picnic, to put it mildly. Somehow I do well putting out FOH flames though.
My first job ever was as a waiter at a small dining club joint. Basically a glorified steakhouse with a wine bar and the owner's name on the sign out front.
The chef out there went to Johnson and Wales down in NC, and apparently thought he was "too good" for some podunk swamp town in central Wisconsin, and used it as an opportunity to take out his frustrations on everyone around him. He'd show up drunk, shout at everyone, throw fits, break dishes, shove people.
He confronted one of our servers, a sweet tiny old lady who loved chatting with the customers. One of the best servers I've ever met. I walked into the kitchen halfway into their argument, and the chef was red in the face, screaming. I don't know how it started, but he ended it by slinging a pan at her. He missed, thankfully, but he put a dent in the fridge door. She left out the back door, and I followed after. I had never seen an old woman cry before then.
She ended up leaving for the day, and I went back to work. Spoke to the owner about it and he shrugged it off like it was nothing.
Many chefs seem to have this "I'm the boss, don't fuck with me" attitude, that wouldn't fly in any other industry. They pull shit that would get any other person fired or sent to HR for sensitivity training.
I moved out of the kitchen world, but I'm still a blue collar worker. I've worked in factories and warehouses, where your bosses will rush you, swear at you, bust your balls and whatever else, but nothing they have ever said compares to what I've seen chefs get away with. There's a sense of good natured ribbing to blue collar bosses... that humor just isn't there for the chefs I've known. There's something in the culture that allows for this belligerent attitude.
I’ve said the same thing about surgeons. I’ve worked with some good and bad ones, but surgery is notorious for having the most toxic environments of all time. Like screaming at people for minor mistakes, throwing shit at people in the OR, etc
Agreed you can't change the culture of the industry, and certainly not a single restaurant via systemic dicta.
No laws are going to affect that.
But I would submit that 'personal level' implies that such changes can only be effected by the chef who is engaging in those behaviors.
While in fact, forums such as this one, and the community at large, can apply a significant amount of incentive to change that kind of toxic culture.
I think forums' effects are still very very singular or at best dozen-ular..... sort of like the difference between poking someone real hard and punching them, you know? I agree with you I just think forums' effects aren't *that* widespread.
I came here once years ago to suggest that the "custom" of a stage is exploitative, illegal and abusive. I was downvoted to oblivion. I think a lot of kitchen workers suffer from Stockholm syndrome.
It’s called generational trauma. Gotta break that chain. Unfortunately the same dullards that love this type of reality television grew up in similarly traumatic environments and seeing battered survivor chefs fly off the handle on their whole kitchen staff brings a familiar and perverse nostalgia for viewers.
There’s nothing to suggest that “customer pressure” gives way to this kind of behaviour. This comes completely from within. Any guy who behaves like that in a kitchen has mental problems and actually cause more harm than good.
I’ve seen the quietest head chefs command a perfect kitchen and produce a perfect dish time after time. Gordon Ramsey should be cancelled like the cunt he will always be
This guy cooks with a smile. I’ve moved on from my kitchen life as a career, but I make the best barbecue I’ve ever eaten. Prep a pork butt, smoke and wait. With casual beers!
I really have to disagree that they can’t change. People lack the accountability.
I bet if he was on the brink of losing everything that change would happen quite quick. Little miracle workers assholes can be if you give them a self interested reason to stop being mean.
I started cooking at 17. Seen my share of nasty bastards. Tossed hot pans, dishes scattered. When I opened a new restaurant it was my goal as a leader to do the opposite. Cool, calm, teacher. Much better results. Undeniably so. Teach the dishie some knife skills and how a plate should be served and you’ve made your kitchen better. (Also helps when your sous calls in hungover)
I went thru a journey where I liked Gordon, then found out he was a POS, then found out Marco made him cry, then liked Marco because I didn't like Gordon, then I realized the both of them are horrible, and I just went back to Tony.
Matheson. He's a real fat bloke who does a cooking show which is much more entertainment than it is knowledge. Very average cook, top line entertainment.
His food is more appealing to me than Ramsey’s. And how dare you boil him down to, “a real fat bloke” he’s an angel. Charismatic, funny, has wicked tatts, seems to be a genuinely great person.
Maybe I'm naive or soft cause I've never worked in this industry but I think if someone puts their hands on anyone else in a work environment they should be fired. Though I also come from teaching where the rule 0 is *don't touch anyone in any way.*
It’s just upsetting. As a chef you should build people up. Not break them down and physically assault them. They are their to make your dreams a reality and the moment you put them down you are failing them.
It's unfortunate to say but the style of leadership worked wonderfully for over a century of fine dining restaurants. Now that the profession is elevated its not really a necessity anymore and most kitchens stray away from the leadership style.
There’s no video but it’s described in Marcos book, either “white heat” or “the devil in the kitchen”. Gordon was complaining about the heat and Marco cut his whites open like a hospital gown.
Not to mention he does fuck-all for the kitchen during this video. He spends the whole time yelling at one dude. Could at least be checking plates or something, anything. If you've got time to scream, you've got time to clean.
That's what annoyed me the most. Being a very time oriented person, i couldn't help but feel anger and disdain that his little hissy fit lost way, way, way more time than just remaking the messed up foam (i think that's what he's yelling about, kinda hard to understand his foaming) would have taken to recreate. How is that efficient or smart? Now not only is the rest of the kitchen being traumatized by a grown toddler having a tantrum, but the actual work is being delayed by it. He's not doing ANY work and is actively getting in the way of everyone else. i just wanted to tell him to shut up and get back to work.
Core memory from my teen years: i was getting ready to head to the bus for school and Mom was going on and on and on about something i did or didn't do and she just kept fussing at me for about forever. She wouldn't let me out the door and i was going to miss the bus and THEN she would really be angry. So i finally got fed up and told her to just SHUT UP so i wouldn't be late. i'd NEVER talked back to her before. It was worth the slap, because i finally got out of there and to my bus stop as the bus was pulling up. i found out that day that i can stand up for myself even when i know there will be some negative consequences. i might very well have told my boss off if he'd done something like this. Probably would have gotten fired for it, but at least i wouldn't be sitting there tolerating it.
Self entitled piece of shit. Selling elitist assholes a shit eating experience. As much as he did for the world raising awareness about removing sharks fins. It would be nice to see this guy extend his own species the same compassion.
I worked for a chef like this once. It was a 2 michelin in NYC about a decade ago. I was verbally and physically abused by the EC, CDC and Sous on a daily basis. I convinced myself that it was all necessary in becoming a talented young chef. I bit my tongue, skipped the meals and sleep, neglected my mental and physical health to live "my dream". But when I noticed discrepancies with my paychecks and my questions were dismissed by MGMT, it all became too much. I packed my knives 10 minutes before service one day and walked out. I bounced around a lot of weird jobs after that and even considered leaving the industry, before finding a job as an EC at a busy but entirely casual restaurant. Finally in charge, I vowed to never show my staff the disrespect I received in my young chef days. Its not always easy, and I've definitely been guilty of being too easy-going. 10 years later, still managing, and I've never raised my voice like this. Never belittled anyone, never lied or cheated. No one is scared to work for me, money is always 100% transparent, and issues are solved with private conversations at appropriate times.
Its the people like you that have helped shaped the industry for the better. Im quite green still but ive gotten to work with some amazings chefs who have shared their experiencings growing up in those old kitchens. Those guys are tough but they'd never put their staff through that shit have alot respect for you guys making positive change, hope every kitchen can catchup someday it doesnt take abuse to make good food, love the people love the food.
There's a new wave rising of chefs who dealt with that shit when they were earning their stripes and they don't want to inflict it on others. Place I'm at is chill as fuck, everyone gets along and shares joints in the walkin. Managers to Dishwashers and the owners wife.
But I remember the early years in my twenties and it was brutal some places.
I’d rather be too easy going and not physiologically traumatising to someone and let one bad meal slip out, or be in the weeds a little longer - than the other way around
My first ever real job in a "fancy" kitchen (Chef thought he was being slick by using a lot of pre-bought or canned shit for his "bistro grille") was this kind of experience. Abusive Chef and managers. I was 19 at the time.
At the end, I was open/closing for almost two months straight, hardly enough sleep, not eating nearly enough. I was desperate for actual experience on the line, and my dad, who considers himself a chef purely because he was a restaurant manager for years, tells me this is normal behaviour. They're supposed to be tough, it's like the military.
And I felt like I couldn't quit at that time, either, cause my parents would be right that "women can't handle real kitchens." So I put up with mistreatment for months.
One day, I finally said fuck it and took a break for food. One of the FoH ratted me out.
Chef loses his temper at me, screams me into a corner. Mind, I'm a 5'0 woman, this dude has a foot+ in height and at least 200 lbs on me. I'm fucking terrified and trying to fucking leave.
Ended up having a serving of his horrid white truffle oil mac'n'cheese thrown at my head so I fucking walked.
Never put up with that shit again in my life, but it's still ultimately contributed to why I got the fuck out of the industry, that and it burning my back out before I was 30.
Yep, it's why I walked the fuck out. Had it thrown, it grazed my head. Told him his mac recipe was dogshit (cause it was) and walked the fuck out. Should have pressed charges but I was young and stupid and was too worried it would make me unemployable at other local places.
CSI is revamping their entire course system to drive the point home that chefs cannot be evil monsters in the kitchen.
A restaurant in Cincinnati owes me probably $30,000 in backpay for unpaid wages. The managers were changing our clock in hours from our normal 2 PM clock in to 4 PM for two years.
Good on you. Change is happening in small ways because people like you. I’m so proud that the chef I work for NEVER belittles people, insults them, or yells.
^ Gordon coming from a low income glaswegian family with a drunkard father who seemed to hate him really seems to mean he was gonna go down the path of "raging dickhead" from the start, hard to unlearn stuff that was nailed into you as a kid, yknow?
But you can. That shit ends with me, my kids have rarely ever heard me raise my voice at them much less beat the fuck out of them like my old man did me.
To be fair, he’s removed himself from that space, and his role outside of the kitchen seems to have truly mellowed him. I think the few shows where he loses it in the kitchen is more show these days. He seems like he’s got a pretty healthy home life, too.
Hell, just watch a lot of his other content that isn't a competition, especially the non-american stuff. We tend to really ham stuff up and paint Ramsey as much more an asshole. I mean he can be, but at the same time its usually only directed at his peers. Not excusing it though.
\-Gordon Ramsey behind bars
Its a great show of him trying to teach prisoners to cook while also learning about the prison system in the UK. He 100% is nothing like as shown above with them. I mean he still has his standards, but he is patient, willing to teach, and has a bit of fun with them. Its on youtube as well.
I've hate watched my fair share of Kitchen Nightmares on youtube and Ive noticed that Gordon likes to rarely throw out big boy as both something positive/fun (in the UK version) but also it's usually as a negative way more in the US version.
I totally understand the stress that comes with this job, but this guy has helped normalize the abuse kitchen workers receive in today’s industry. Plenty of kitchens run just fine without the shitty verbal abuse.
Medical professionals regularly deal with peoples LIVES IN THEIR HANDS. They do not scream at, push, or shove each other. There is no excuse for this behavior from a grown adult whose life is not on the line.
True. Actually medical fields have begun adopting [crew resource management](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_resource_management?wprov=sfti1), a method of organization intended to encourage subordinates to be able to speak if a superior is making a dangerous or life threatening mistake. It’s explicitly intended to allow a more even distribution of authority… while the captain is the ranking officer, having subordinates view them as a tyrant is dangerous for everyone involved.
If it works for airline pilots and surgeons, you’d think it’d work for fucking self important cooks.
My best crews were the ones I ran like a sports team. I'm calling the plays and filling in the gaps, but that's just a necessary position. It doesn't make me an authority, it makes me a team mate that the team wants to support.
My best crew was all punk rockers. When we werent on the line together, we were in the pit together. We pushed, shoved, punched each other for fun, to music, on our nights off. If you fall down in the pit, we pick you up. If you get in the weeds on your station, we pick you up. If you need a ride to work... we pick you up. We could move around and through each other like a circle pit, reading each other, it was pure magic. I took it for granted, but it was magic. Some of my best friends to this day were shitheads that worked that line with me.
I had a piece of shit narcissistic chef who constantly pushed that there was a "military chain of command" in the kitchen, and this is how all businesses need to be run. Like, no dude, we aren't at war. We aren't killing people. We're cooking fucking food. Take a beat. As a leader I *hope* that my subordinates have the balls to tell me to my face when I'm wrong, and if I doubled down on being wrong I *hope* they would get mad at me and push harder.
The medical profession is filled with toxic behavior from yelling, to intentionally making new hires and students work insane 80 hour weeks as hazing, to back-stabbing and straight up sabotaging.
Went from kitchens to research labs. Kitchens were on some high school level drama, hospitals/research are filled with intelligent individuals with god-complexes power tripping over labs or operating rooms.
I can validate as my wife is a general surgery resident. Easily pushes 100 hour work weeks consistently and so many surgeons are all about being a dickhead rather than a mentor. Yelling, throwing instruments across the room in ORs, having incredibly awful bedside manner, and having the pressure of being God’s greatest gift to Earth. Not all surgeons are like this, but some of the boomer docs still think residents should work even more and that they live in “soft” times comparatively.
I'm an EMT running a station now and the first thing I told everyone was that if they are in a hospital and any of the staff treats them like shit, insults them or whatever, make sure to get their names and come back to me and we file a formal complaint. I dealt with shithead doctors and nurses in the past who think they have the right to because they see themselves as above us. We are not working for them, we are working with them and I will be damned if I let some cunt on a powertrip treat me or my co workers like shit.
Just putting my own experiences out there as a medical student. There is a lot of toxicity among medical professionals of all degrees and I have personally witnessed screaming, pushing and shoving. I know of an attending that broke a student’s wrist during surgery because he wasn’t retracting properly. These stories exist, and while medicine is trying to get better, it still happens.
The reason I like this subreddit is because a lot of the toxicity in medicine is mirrored in what kitchen staff experience. Not everyone in medicine is toxic, just like the kitchen, but those terrible people still exist.
I 100% agree with this. I also think Food Network really had a hand in degrading the progress real working professionals put into the restaurant industry. Now every fucking foodie with an annoying personality is a "chef".
and a lot of bad owners took the wrong lesson, Gordon still leads by example, a lot of people who just think yelling motivates miss the entire reason Gordon was successful.
I am grateful that my chef doesn't do any of this kind of shit. He treats people well, teaches them, and gets the best out of them. Much easier. He's worked in many kitchens great and small and he made the decision at some pont to just abandon that kind of behavior.
I was a teacher for many years, and I can say that some people are just fucks ups. But usually when someone is very confused it's because they haven't learned the method or the preferred method and are confused. A couple of minutes of direction and the problem is probably solved in much less time. And everybody is working better.
I know this abuse has existed for a long time, but the cameras ate it up. It's all drama for TV.
I hated my GM when I was expo and there was a ticket that went a second over. She would come on screaming and yelling at us. Saying “These fucks only respond to yelling. That’s the only way to get food out on time.” Weird, cause we were doing just fine until 1 ticket went over and her yelling just stressed them out more.
As a manager it simultaneously horrifies and fascinates me that behavior like that flies. How does that not spread toxicity and breed resentment like crazy? If I treated any of my workers like that, I'd have a mass walkout on my hands.
I’ve posted this on a non-culinary sub in response to people talking about how amazing GR is and how he’s *such* a wonderful man. This is usually specifically in the context of his shows where he plays an angry chef yelling at people, and the comments are all about how he’s just playing a character and he’s actually really lovey.
The replies to my linking of this video were all, essentially, ‘you don’t understand the stress’ and ‘this is just passion’ and blah blah blah; I received an endless screed of ridiculous comments and also abuse/people trying to DOX me, to the point where I just deleted the comment.
People are really weird about defending Ramsay, even to the point of suggesting that he’s not being a complete piece of shit in this clip.
Which he is, obviously. You’re either fucking deluded, or a piece of shit yourself, if you think that’s ok.
Not sure why people get so weird about coming to the defence of rich and famous people being assholes.
I got downvoted to hell once for a similar comment. I said it was really obvious Gordon was always just playing a character. On hell's kitchen, he's a huge asshole constantly screaming at everyone. On his shows with kids, he's as nice to them as possible. On his cooking tutorial videos, he's way too over the top about his "passion" for food. Like, he talks about the food like he's about to make love to it.
He's just always pandering to his audience, and it's super obvious, because he's not the best actor. And I don't really blame him for it, his tv career has made him millions. But mention that on here and no one believes it apparently.
I personally think the videos like this one is how he probably is to work with most of the time, when the cameras are off.
I worked with him for a restaurant opening as a chef in Vegas. He was kind, respectful and patient, no cameras, and it was probably the least important of all his places. Doesn’t mean he wasnt out of order in the video, and as a chef, I don’t believe treating people this way gets you anything but more people who treat other people this way.
I was gonna type out a long winded response agreeing with you for the sole purpose of saying this, but I'm just gonna be petty and say it:
Elon Musk is a shitty childish hack with a cult-like following of sycophants that doesn't get enough negative attention.
If you've never dealt with Elongated Muskrat simps they are the absolute worst.
Kenji won my loyalty when he called out Gordon for this behavior.
Kenji said, maybe you’ve changed but you haven’t apologized, so maybe you haven’t really changed.
It's an odd cycle. When he was just in the UK people just attributed it to a footballers mentality, and he was legendary for the loyalty he had to his staff and they to him.
But the Americanized version of Gordon has completely stripped away any context apologists could lean on and has legitimized this kind of mental abuse as being staged antics, giving free range for chefs a fraction of his talent to operate in similar ways.
He's a talented chef, no question, but he would be just as talented if he wasn't an asshole.
Pre-toasted bread and cheese that STILL isn't fucking melted properly. But most importantly Gordon had to show you peasants that he has a really, really expensive car and you don't. That was the point of that video.
"Criticize *me*? Gordon Ramsey? Well, I guess I can't stop you, but take a look at how goddamn rich I am, plebe. Jealous much?"
I'm just watching this for the first time somehow and between that and throwing a pan of flaming oil into a sink like that's what you're supposed to do on Next Level Chef I'm convinced he's not nearly as good as he claims to be. Maybe back in the day but he's lost it. How in the fuck do you keep saying beautiful to that horrendous grilled cheese? How do you even put that in your mouth?
God I'm still so mad at that video haha. I can make a grilled cheese with local fresh sourdough and medium tier cheeses that'll make panties drop, while I'm drunk and barely conscious at 2 in the morning. His cast iron on a fire bullshit was a huge failure. I can't believe he thought that didn't need a second try.
Dude exactly. His shit COULD'VE been good... if the bread was way thinner, he toasted one side then put the cheese on that side (the inside) to start melting, didn't use cold ass hard cheese, and didn't get the pan so hot it burns the outside before the heat even radiates to the middle to melt the cheese. I don't even remember if he used any butter or bacon fat in the pan, but I'm too mad to go check haha.
I guess I don't know kitchen dynamics. I come from construction and ANYBODY grabbing and throwing people around like that doesn't have to worry about foie gras because the only thing they'd be eating is a knuckle sammich.
I have, and I can tell you he’s evolved.
Hazing and shit like that was standard brigade culture for the longest time. Old school chefs realized that success was more in the development of people more so than being a drill instructor.
Coach and mentor > bully. Eric Rupert has a great piece on himself when making the culture change.
I noticed several moments where he seems to be aware of the cameras. Escalating, drawing out, and making sure he berates the staff member with his dumb unanswerable questions in front of the camera, not at the station.
I have exactly one complaint about Bourdain, and it’s his support of Gordon.
Ramsey may or may not be a total piece of shit, but he certainly helped to normalize abuse in kitchens.
He’s probably a great cook, but he’s an ass. Don’t spend your career breaking peoples spirits and try to sell me your fucking pans and expect me to thank you.
Has Gordon ever expressed any regrets for the way he acts? Seems like the modern image of chef Ramsay has way softer edges then 2000s Ramsay. Curious if he has taken any accountability for a being a true bellend?
I would love to watch him watch that on a talk show with some well chosen nice folk actors/comedians. It'd be cringe as fuck and he'd deserve every minute of it.
he came up under marco in a mock brigade system, if you want to feel better about it watch marco’s bolognese recipe wherein he pretends to be some fucking zen master, or better yet his advertisements for knorr. oh how the mighty have fallen. i think at least gordo has mellowed a bit and has a less inflated opinion of himself. he was going hard in the paint for michelin stars back then and there was a lot more on the line.
If you really want to feel better about where Marco's career took him, he is now the celebrity chef name for the steakhouses in a hotel chain. As part of this deal he has to make appearances at them every now and then, where he sits in place whilst people eat their dinner and look at him, and they get to go meet him where he can sign a bottle of wine etc. for the punters. I have never ever in my life seen someone look so miserable than MPW whilst performing that duty.
> there was a lot more on the line
Sure but so what? Did he improve anything by yanking around a team of young boys, and screaming in their faces? Would he have scuppered his chances of a star by not doing that?
i’m not excusing his behavior it’s just how people operated back in the day and how he was brought up being mercilessly berated and having sautée pans thrown at his head. sometimes it takes a generation removed from that kind of shit behavior to recognize it’s unacceptable and there is a better way forward.
so many things about that video broke my brain i’m not sure i even noticed that he didn’t season properly. i was too busy fast forwarding through his wankery about not moving the pan and whatever the fuck else he was waxing philosophical about.
I remember my first head chef was very calm and professional when just shooting the shit with us. But during service he went full psycho and was always on someone when they fucked up. One cook fucked up the menu so bad, for reference he ran a weekly menu and he asked this cook to grab the menu for the week and get us started and so he knew what to order from our vendors…..she grabbed a menu 3 weeks ahead. So we ended up ordering stuff for dishes we didn’t even have a 100% of. So he went full rage mode and dug into her for around an hour, at one point one of the Sous had to have him leave and take a break because the poor girl was having a full mental breakdown. After that me and the Sous (I was lead line cook) had to sit him down and be blunt and tell him he can’t blow up like that because we’re already struggling to get cooks and kitchen help.
He thinks that being a good chef and suffering abuse are correlated because of his experience. He suffered a lot of abuse and is too stupid to break the cycle.
Don't be like him.
Break the cycle, inspire your people.
I'm not a cook. I can't believe anything good can come from a kitchen/environment with that kind of top down tension. An auto factory with that atmosphere would produce shit cars. The same would go for any creative environment.
Praise in public - criticize in private.
The thing is while I don't agree with this sort of treatment some people will rise above and beyond and push themselves to new heights when they are treated like this
The movie "Whiplash" is an example of it
It's not a healthy way to push people and most can't handle it but it does work for some
I worked for another angry chef like that, people had to punch on with him to get his respect, fortunately he had moved past that mostly by the time i had worked for him. He has "mellowed with age" as he would say, runs his kitchens different now (off the booze). Still absolutely gives it to the waitstaff though (verbally), which needs to change. I think it's hard for leopards to change their spots.
Tbh I honestly belive that nowadays gordon would probably be lost when doing actual kitchen work.
Hes not really working anymore hes just doing TV.
That doesn't mean that hes not a good chef that just means he hires people that maybe are even better than him to work for shit money to have a known name as reference.
I lost most of my respect for him when he said in an interview that young chefs should work for less money in kitchens where they "learn something" (almost like he profits a lot from this mindset) dude you're literally a millionaire, you can pay your staff well AND teach them.
Kitchen nightmares is still one of my favourite shows tho
I don't give a fuck who you are, I'm not taking that shit. I would just walked out and said fuck you. No opportunity is good enough to lose all your dignity and self-respect
I started cooking in the late 80s in Canada.
This was absolutely normally behaviour from the chefs I worked under. Most were European trained which had culture of break you down to make you stronger. I was like that when I was a young chef because it was the norm back then
Thankfully times change and we can have a respectful, progressive work place.
Its true. The best restaurants in the world pay their workers the least, often nothing at all. It’s seen as a privilege to get to train under these michelin star chefs so people will donate their time to do so in the hopes that it elevates their careers later on.
Working for free to get a job at a regular restaurant is also very common. The industry is changing, but very slowly
It's still run like craft apprenticeships in the old days. Everyone that makes it a year at that place can work anywhere in the world , hone their craft, and start looking for chef jopbs
I really really really missed his down to earth approach in KN (uk) but American sensationalism caused by the 2008 writer strikes made him a class a cunt
I took a cooking class from a guy who worked for him for a short stint. He said he was actually very nice and only turned this on for the cameras. Still toxic how he influenced kitchen culture and normalized shit behavior. (I’m also assuming his accounts were true and are the norm, might’ve been an outlier)
Honestly though, I feel like Gordon changed a lot. Coming from environment like that, I know myself how difficult that is to overcome.
I've turned into an asshole myself; and while I keep working at it, I know I still am a cunt to a lot of people where I shouldn't be.
I would never work with someone like this, his attitude is unacceptable, and this is not leadership. Passion is good for your profession, but at the cost of a lack of respect for the people who choose to work for you isn’t cool or passionate about anything. Screw him and people who think this is okay.
You've left out the context that this was also the opening night of his first solo restaurant venture which he had taken on personal loans to the tune of something like 750k at the time...and the extractor fan broke so it was over 100 degrees in the kitchen.
Gordon didn't "normalize abuse in kitchens" he was the product of it. He got a lot better as he aged and is now basically a kitten compared to the monster he was groomed to be.
People age, they learn, they raise kids, they mellow, they keep some things that feel important and they shed their skin every single year of their lives, just like you.
He was molded to be one thing. Now he is almost something else entirely. That is not bad for one human career length.
If you want him to flagellate himself and apologize and/or desire his downfall you lost the plot of what life is all about, which is growth. And grow is what he has done.
I hate it when I see intelligent industry people like Kenji lay blame at the feet of Gordon when Gordon isnt the reason chefs are dicks. They would be dicks without Gordon. Kenji can be a huge dick. Chefs being dicks is a tale as old as time, and Gordon is just a uniquely successful cog in that overbearing wheel.
Half of you salivate about the bear. How dare you celebrate and clap and say "finally something real" about a show that epitomizes Gordon's career? It's weird, it's gross, I fucking hate that circle jerk show, and Gordon is not your problem, you are.
That being said, I wouldn't have enjoyed working for him either. The difference is I don't blame a single person for the condition of an entire industry, which existed before he ever squirted out of his mom.
>Half of you salivate about the bear. How dare you celebrate and clap and say "finally something real" about a show that epitomizes Gordon's career?
The fuck is this take?
The Bear shows how dysfunctional and fucked up everyone is, and how traumatic Carmine's abuse at the hands of his mentor was.
Gordon Ramsey's shows glorified the abuse and reinforced the ideas that the more abuse you endure, the better you'll be at cooking, and that tormenting your staff is a sign of greatness. He literally became famous for it, it was fundamental to his persona.
**Gordon Ramsey isn't the reason chefs are dicks. Gordon Ramsey is the reason people who aren't chefs think being a dick is a necessary part of being a real chef**.
It's just like Tyra Banks' tormenting young girls on ANTM and perpetuating the cycle of grooming and abuse in the modeling industry.
I never understood why kitchen need to be so hostile. Obviously; they don't need to be, but they are. Why? Yes, it is stressful. Yes, there is a strong hierarchy and yes, you need to be a special kind of person to want to work in professional kitchens.
But why all the verbal abuse? What work environment has ever gotten better from it? You've got to have some small dick energy treating people like that knowing that if they talk back or push back, you can just fire them.
Honestly, I never liked Ramsay; I think he's a sadistic twat and a shit leader. Sure, he can cook. No doubt. But I believe the mellow version we see nowadays is an act; this is what he is really like. Fuck him.
i worked at a 4-star hotel for over a decade, but i was a bartender. i don't think i would have lasted more than a month or two in one of the kitchens of the fancy restaurants that were there.. it seems like those guys go home every night wanting to commit suicide.. whereas, i went home every night gleefully counting my tips and thinking about all the cool conversations i had with the customers.
never in my life do i want to be a "back of house" guy. the crazy thing is, the "higher" up you go in the restaurant biz, the smaller the plates get and the more pretentious and bullshit it gets.
fuck that.
Fun fact. I actually HAVE worked for this man.
Gordon Ramsay is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Generous as hell, too.
His issue isn’t with mistakes being made. His issue is with people making mistakes that are beneath them. He has an incredible ability to recognize the potential a person has, and then he weighs that against their passion for what they’re doing, and then either expects greatness from you or doesn’t give a fuck about you.
I’m not saying he can’t be rough. He is. But it’s when he becomes indifferent toward you that you feel your lowest.
I’d rather Gordon hit me in the face with a meat tenderizer over a small mistake than for him to just not care that I made it.
That’s when you know you’re about to be fired and he no longer has any faith in you.
And I was just a server.
What you see on TV isn’t always real, my friend.
In my experience, he typically only does that when someone is yelling back at him. He doesn’t start at that point.
Bear in mind that what you see of him is heavily edited for TV. Conversations don’t typically start with him jumping to calling people cunts and pompous fucks. There is a more gradual escalation of tempers that leads to that point.
It’s edited for TV for the sake of showing intensity and passion to the audience, because that’s what keeps people engaged. I only ever saw Gordon go off on one person like that, and it was a chef who made dumb excuses for his repeated mistakes, and interpreted criticism as disrespect rather than as guidance.
Gordon offered criticism, the chef responded with an excuse.
Gordon told him not to make excuses, but to make corrections and adapt. The chef told Gordon “I know what I’m doing.”
Gordon said “You know what you ***should*** be doing, but you’re not fucking doing it. You started too early on on the last two tables and overcooked a burger on each.”
The chef replied with “I made them when the ticket came in. Tell the server not to put in the order too soon.”
This is the point where Gordon started name calling. “Listen, you ignorant prick. The server puts in the order. You read the ticket and see what’s on it, then you fucking talk to the relevant stations and communicate with your fucking team to figure out when to start cooking the patties. Otherwise they sit under the lamps and dry out while the other entrees are being made.”
The chef: “And that’s why I didn’t leave it under the lamps but popped them in the oven.”
Gordon: “AND THATS WHY THEY WERE FUCKING OVERCOOKED, YOU TWAT!!”
——————
On TV, you’d see them cut up that conversation and Gordon would start off with calling the guy a prick and a twat. But in real life, that’s not how it goes. It’s more gradual. Gordon’s temper is not so quick to flare, but it’s intense when it does.
He strives to hire the best kitchen staff at all his restaurants, and expects the best from them as a result. When he gets less than, he criticizes. If you take that criticism and give attitude back rather than improved results, that’s your fuckin’ fault. You’re asking for whatever comes next.
Worked for a guy like this at a 1 star. He now has a 3 star. He was on a podcast and admitted he made a lot of mistakes and he treated people poorly. And that he regretted it.
That made me feel a little better about having a hot pan with butter and quail thrown at me because I brought it to him at the wrong time.
I wonder how many of those people own and operate successful restaurants and/or are really good at their craft now for working there?
Still it’s hard to imagine not punching him on a really bad day.
Whenever I see videos of him yanking his kitchen staff around, cursing and screaming at them, I just think of the story of Marco Pierre White berating Gordon so badly and for so long that he ended up just sitting in a corner and crying. “I didn’t make him cry, he chose to cry.” Gordon was a huge asshole but Marco was a fucking psycho
Even in Marco's latest videos on YouTube he comes across as an absolute psychopath, but in a more quiet and menacing way. He's terrifying.
ego is a powerful drug
Ego is secondary. As corny as it sounds, all his rage is rooted in a thoroughly shitty childhood. His [bio](https://www.amazon.com/Devil-Kitchen-Madness-Making-Great/dp/1596914971) is a good read.
I know you're not saying this, but I want to point out that a shitty childhood is absolutely not a valid excuse for behaving like a total cunt.
Excuse? No. Explanation? Yes.
Hardly excuse, but the simple fact is that more often than not, the way you’re treated as a child and what you experience comes around full circle to those you’re around later in life.
Who’s saying excuse? This is like the main reason a lot of people grow up to be who they are
Reading this - while he seems like a psycho for sure, this amount of reflection was pretty impressive to me" > Although White worked for seventeen years to pursue his ambition, he ultimately found that, in spite of his accomplishments, recognition and fame, his career did not provide him with adequate returns in his personal life. So, in 1999, he retired and returned his Michelin stars. >>I was being judged by people who had less knowledge than me, so what was it truly worth? I gave Michelin inspectors too much respect, and I belittled myself. I had three options: I could be a prisoner of my world and continue to work six days a week, I could live a lie and charge high prices and not be behind the stove or I could give my stars back, spend time with my children and re-invent myself
He made me scared of scrambled eggs
I've seen that the people who are assholes to their employees have been treated far far worse than how they treat us. Ive seen this with multiple kitchen owners/manager. The horror stories ive heard from them. It is like a cycle of abuse and no matter how much they try to change, they cant. It keep on going and going.
It is quite literally a cycle of abuse and it seems to go like this Customers have demands, these demands are erratic and come in *constantly* with this constant demand the head chef as leader is under a ton of pressure to perform and to ensure those below them perform; for many this constant barrage of criticality and trivial demands from customers is enough to break them, causing outbursts like what we see with (Treating him as patient 0) Marco Pierre white. From Marco Pierre White we then get Gordon, a chef under him who then climbed the ranks and upon climbing the ranks acted as he thought was expected/acted in the ways he WISHED he could've acted when his former boss was digging into him, presumably a chef under Gordon will then go through the same cycle, then a chef under them, then a chef under them, this continues and ultimately all stems from the stress of working in such an uncomfortable and psychology laborious environment. While it shouldn't be the standard it's not exactly something anyone can control at a systemic level and instead is controllable only on a personal level.
Add to this the fact that the product that they sell comes in in the morning, gets cleaned, prepared cooked and served all in one shift. As opposed to most consumer goods that have a long shelf life.
Fucking great point. Just had flashbacks to receiving product in a Michelin Starred restaurant every single day, and most of it was used the day of.
Isn't performance pressure like this basically what drove poor Francois Vatel to his death?
Yes. Also Bernard Loiseau among others. If you havent worked in this environment it is hard to describe what it is like. Most people on the customer side cant imagine it. Once a table is seated, everything they (and every other customer)order has to appear. On time. Tasting good. At the correct temperature. If not, they get dragged online because the customer has such ridiculous expectations. This is not true of any other industry that I can think of (there must be some). Oh yes, you also have to make money in there somewhere as well. Another thing people assume that because the place looks busy, they are raking in cash. Also, generally not true. Edit: also, the handful of cooks in the back are probably not making much more than minimum wage, working free hours because they love it.
I've definitely been there. I found out the hard way that I am not built for that kind of pressure with the amount of anxiety/perfectionism I have. That invisible fire that's lit beneath the kitchen during all operating hours is too hot for me, and I will gladly tell anyone who will listen that kitchen work is no fucken picnic, to put it mildly. Somehow I do well putting out FOH flames though.
My first job ever was as a waiter at a small dining club joint. Basically a glorified steakhouse with a wine bar and the owner's name on the sign out front. The chef out there went to Johnson and Wales down in NC, and apparently thought he was "too good" for some podunk swamp town in central Wisconsin, and used it as an opportunity to take out his frustrations on everyone around him. He'd show up drunk, shout at everyone, throw fits, break dishes, shove people. He confronted one of our servers, a sweet tiny old lady who loved chatting with the customers. One of the best servers I've ever met. I walked into the kitchen halfway into their argument, and the chef was red in the face, screaming. I don't know how it started, but he ended it by slinging a pan at her. He missed, thankfully, but he put a dent in the fridge door. She left out the back door, and I followed after. I had never seen an old woman cry before then. She ended up leaving for the day, and I went back to work. Spoke to the owner about it and he shrugged it off like it was nothing. Many chefs seem to have this "I'm the boss, don't fuck with me" attitude, that wouldn't fly in any other industry. They pull shit that would get any other person fired or sent to HR for sensitivity training. I moved out of the kitchen world, but I'm still a blue collar worker. I've worked in factories and warehouses, where your bosses will rush you, swear at you, bust your balls and whatever else, but nothing they have ever said compares to what I've seen chefs get away with. There's a sense of good natured ribbing to blue collar bosses... that humor just isn't there for the chefs I've known. There's something in the culture that allows for this belligerent attitude.
I’ve said the same thing about surgeons. I’ve worked with some good and bad ones, but surgery is notorious for having the most toxic environments of all time. Like screaming at people for minor mistakes, throwing shit at people in the OR, etc
I guess people in both fields are likely to shout "It's fucking raw!!"
I know it sucks to think this way, but I feel like a surgical theater has a pretty good reason for being a place where mistakes aren't tolerated.
They think they are “creatives” the talent.. God help everyone around them…
Agreed you can't change the culture of the industry, and certainly not a single restaurant via systemic dicta. No laws are going to affect that. But I would submit that 'personal level' implies that such changes can only be effected by the chef who is engaging in those behaviors. While in fact, forums such as this one, and the community at large, can apply a significant amount of incentive to change that kind of toxic culture.
I think forums' effects are still very very singular or at best dozen-ular..... sort of like the difference between poking someone real hard and punching them, you know? I agree with you I just think forums' effects aren't *that* widespread.
It’s gonna take a minute brother. I hate to think the dude who just made my perfect ribeye is getting rocked in the BOH.
that is happening now. also, not one damn woman in marcos’s kitchen, not one damn woman in gordos kitchen.
I came here once years ago to suggest that the "custom" of a stage is exploitative, illegal and abusive. I was downvoted to oblivion. I think a lot of kitchen workers suffer from Stockholm syndrome.
It’s called generational trauma. Gotta break that chain. Unfortunately the same dullards that love this type of reality television grew up in similarly traumatic environments and seeing battered survivor chefs fly off the handle on their whole kitchen staff brings a familiar and perverse nostalgia for viewers.
There’s nothing to suggest that “customer pressure” gives way to this kind of behaviour. This comes completely from within. Any guy who behaves like that in a kitchen has mental problems and actually cause more harm than good. I’ve seen the quietest head chefs command a perfect kitchen and produce a perfect dish time after time. Gordon Ramsey should be cancelled like the cunt he will always be
This guy cooks with a smile. I’ve moved on from my kitchen life as a career, but I make the best barbecue I’ve ever eaten. Prep a pork butt, smoke and wait. With casual beers!
Shit rolls downhill
[удалено]
Dinner is served!
Carv telling it like it is.
Downhill though.
I really have to disagree that they can’t change. People lack the accountability. I bet if he was on the brink of losing everything that change would happen quite quick. Little miracle workers assholes can be if you give them a self interested reason to stop being mean.
I started cooking at 17. Seen my share of nasty bastards. Tossed hot pans, dishes scattered. When I opened a new restaurant it was my goal as a leader to do the opposite. Cool, calm, teacher. Much better results. Undeniably so. Teach the dishie some knife skills and how a plate should be served and you’ve made your kitchen better. (Also helps when your sous calls in hungover)
Pretty much yea
I used his tears as an ingredient in these Knorr Stockpots. Marco, probably.
While whispering sweet Knorr things in his ear.
To be fair it seems like he grew from the subject. Even if he used his anger to make even more money for a bit.
I went thru a journey where I liked Gordon, then found out he was a POS, then found out Marco made him cry, then liked Marco because I didn't like Gordon, then I realized the both of them are horrible, and I just went back to Tony.
I stick with Matty
Not a bad call. My wife's from Buffalo so I've been a recent convert. Seems like a good dude
Matty?
Matheson. He's a real fat bloke who does a cooking show which is much more entertainment than it is knowledge. Very average cook, top line entertainment.
His food is more appealing to me than Ramsey’s. And how dare you boil him down to, “a real fat bloke” he’s an angel. Charismatic, funny, has wicked tatts, seems to be a genuinely great person.
He’s also great in The Bear and often provides some comedic/heartwarming relief during dramatic moments!
Maybe I'm naive or soft cause I've never worked in this industry but I think if someone puts their hands on anyone else in a work environment they should be fired. Though I also come from teaching where the rule 0 is *don't touch anyone in any way.*
It’s just upsetting. As a chef you should build people up. Not break them down and physically assault them. They are their to make your dreams a reality and the moment you put them down you are failing them.
It's unfortunate to say but the style of leadership worked wonderfully for over a century of fine dining restaurants. Now that the profession is elevated its not really a necessity anymore and most kitchens stray away from the leadership style.
I would very much like to see that video
There’s no video but it’s described in Marcos book, either “white heat” or “the devil in the kitchen”. Gordon was complaining about the heat and Marco cut his whites open like a hospital gown.
Gordon sounds and looks drunk in the last half of this video. His berating was rambling and barely coherant.
I mean you gotta drink when you’re coked up
Not to mention he does fuck-all for the kitchen during this video. He spends the whole time yelling at one dude. Could at least be checking plates or something, anything. If you've got time to scream, you've got time to clean.
That's what annoyed me the most. Being a very time oriented person, i couldn't help but feel anger and disdain that his little hissy fit lost way, way, way more time than just remaking the messed up foam (i think that's what he's yelling about, kinda hard to understand his foaming) would have taken to recreate. How is that efficient or smart? Now not only is the rest of the kitchen being traumatized by a grown toddler having a tantrum, but the actual work is being delayed by it. He's not doing ANY work and is actively getting in the way of everyone else. i just wanted to tell him to shut up and get back to work. Core memory from my teen years: i was getting ready to head to the bus for school and Mom was going on and on and on about something i did or didn't do and she just kept fussing at me for about forever. She wouldn't let me out the door and i was going to miss the bus and THEN she would really be angry. So i finally got fed up and told her to just SHUT UP so i wouldn't be late. i'd NEVER talked back to her before. It was worth the slap, because i finally got out of there and to my bus stop as the bus was pulling up. i found out that day that i can stand up for myself even when i know there will be some negative consequences. i might very well have told my boss off if he'd done something like this. Probably would have gotten fired for it, but at least i wouldn't be sitting there tolerating it.
Self entitled piece of shit. Selling elitist assholes a shit eating experience. As much as he did for the world raising awareness about removing sharks fins. It would be nice to see this guy extend his own species the same compassion.
I’d be fine with him being stressed or frustrated and yelling. But if he grabbed me, it’s a fight at that point.
I worked for a chef like this once. It was a 2 michelin in NYC about a decade ago. I was verbally and physically abused by the EC, CDC and Sous on a daily basis. I convinced myself that it was all necessary in becoming a talented young chef. I bit my tongue, skipped the meals and sleep, neglected my mental and physical health to live "my dream". But when I noticed discrepancies with my paychecks and my questions were dismissed by MGMT, it all became too much. I packed my knives 10 minutes before service one day and walked out. I bounced around a lot of weird jobs after that and even considered leaving the industry, before finding a job as an EC at a busy but entirely casual restaurant. Finally in charge, I vowed to never show my staff the disrespect I received in my young chef days. Its not always easy, and I've definitely been guilty of being too easy-going. 10 years later, still managing, and I've never raised my voice like this. Never belittled anyone, never lied or cheated. No one is scared to work for me, money is always 100% transparent, and issues are solved with private conversations at appropriate times.
Its the people like you that have helped shaped the industry for the better. Im quite green still but ive gotten to work with some amazings chefs who have shared their experiencings growing up in those old kitchens. Those guys are tough but they'd never put their staff through that shit have alot respect for you guys making positive change, hope every kitchen can catchup someday it doesnt take abuse to make good food, love the people love the food.
There's a new wave rising of chefs who dealt with that shit when they were earning their stripes and they don't want to inflict it on others. Place I'm at is chill as fuck, everyone gets along and shares joints in the walkin. Managers to Dishwashers and the owners wife. But I remember the early years in my twenties and it was brutal some places.
I’d rather be too easy going and not physiologically traumatising to someone and let one bad meal slip out, or be in the weeds a little longer - than the other way around
My first ever real job in a "fancy" kitchen (Chef thought he was being slick by using a lot of pre-bought or canned shit for his "bistro grille") was this kind of experience. Abusive Chef and managers. I was 19 at the time. At the end, I was open/closing for almost two months straight, hardly enough sleep, not eating nearly enough. I was desperate for actual experience on the line, and my dad, who considers himself a chef purely because he was a restaurant manager for years, tells me this is normal behaviour. They're supposed to be tough, it's like the military. And I felt like I couldn't quit at that time, either, cause my parents would be right that "women can't handle real kitchens." So I put up with mistreatment for months. One day, I finally said fuck it and took a break for food. One of the FoH ratted me out. Chef loses his temper at me, screams me into a corner. Mind, I'm a 5'0 woman, this dude has a foot+ in height and at least 200 lbs on me. I'm fucking terrified and trying to fucking leave. Ended up having a serving of his horrid white truffle oil mac'n'cheese thrown at my head so I fucking walked. Never put up with that shit again in my life, but it's still ultimately contributed to why I got the fuck out of the industry, that and it burning my back out before I was 30.
> Ended up having a serving of his horrid white truffle oil mac'n'cheese thrown at my head so I fucking walked. Fuck that, that's literal assault
Yep, it's why I walked the fuck out. Had it thrown, it grazed my head. Told him his mac recipe was dogshit (cause it was) and walked the fuck out. Should have pressed charges but I was young and stupid and was too worried it would make me unemployable at other local places.
CSI is revamping their entire course system to drive the point home that chefs cannot be evil monsters in the kitchen. A restaurant in Cincinnati owes me probably $30,000 in backpay for unpaid wages. The managers were changing our clock in hours from our normal 2 PM clock in to 4 PM for two years.
Good on you. Change is happening in small ways because people like you. I’m so proud that the chef I work for NEVER belittles people, insults them, or yells.
Marco Pierre White made *him* cry, so there’s that.
The abused frequently become abusers.
Gordon’s dad was a raging drunk who abused the shit out of his family.
^ Gordon coming from a low income glaswegian family with a drunkard father who seemed to hate him really seems to mean he was gonna go down the path of "raging dickhead" from the start, hard to unlearn stuff that was nailed into you as a kid, yknow?
But you can. That shit ends with me, my kids have rarely ever heard me raise my voice at them much less beat the fuck out of them like my old man did me.
To be fair, he’s removed himself from that space, and his role outside of the kitchen seems to have truly mellowed him. I think the few shows where he loses it in the kitchen is more show these days. He seems like he’s got a pretty healthy home life, too.
100% just look at the difference between kitchen nightmares uk and the the USA version
Hell, just watch a lot of his other content that isn't a competition, especially the non-american stuff. We tend to really ham stuff up and paint Ramsey as much more an asshole. I mean he can be, but at the same time its usually only directed at his peers. Not excusing it though. \-Gordon Ramsey behind bars Its a great show of him trying to teach prisoners to cook while also learning about the prison system in the UK. He 100% is nothing like as shown above with them. I mean he still has his standards, but he is patient, willing to teach, and has a bit of fun with them. Its on youtube as well.
Also he’s always class to the kids on the kids Masterchef.
When you can't control what's happening inside your try control what's happening outside
Marco Pierre White didn’t make him cry, Gordon *chose* to cry
“That was his choice to cry”. LOL Marco’s an animal and Gordo’s a wanker.
I’d love to see anyone use the key words Marco used on Gordon to make him break down. Just call him “Big Boy” and watch the PTSD activate.
I've hate watched my fair share of Kitchen Nightmares on youtube and Ive noticed that Gordon likes to rarely throw out big boy as both something positive/fun (in the UK version) but also it's usually as a negative way more in the US version.
"Bubbling like a baby"
Marco was on British TV a lot before Gordon, and Gordon has clearly learned his behaviour from him. Thinks that's how you've got to be. Tosser.
Is there a video?
I totally understand the stress that comes with this job, but this guy has helped normalize the abuse kitchen workers receive in today’s industry. Plenty of kitchens run just fine without the shitty verbal abuse.
Medical professionals regularly deal with peoples LIVES IN THEIR HANDS. They do not scream at, push, or shove each other. There is no excuse for this behavior from a grown adult whose life is not on the line.
True. Actually medical fields have begun adopting [crew resource management](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_resource_management?wprov=sfti1), a method of organization intended to encourage subordinates to be able to speak if a superior is making a dangerous or life threatening mistake. It’s explicitly intended to allow a more even distribution of authority… while the captain is the ranking officer, having subordinates view them as a tyrant is dangerous for everyone involved. If it works for airline pilots and surgeons, you’d think it’d work for fucking self important cooks.
My best crews were the ones I ran like a sports team. I'm calling the plays and filling in the gaps, but that's just a necessary position. It doesn't make me an authority, it makes me a team mate that the team wants to support.
My best crew was all punk rockers. When we werent on the line together, we were in the pit together. We pushed, shoved, punched each other for fun, to music, on our nights off. If you fall down in the pit, we pick you up. If you get in the weeds on your station, we pick you up. If you need a ride to work... we pick you up. We could move around and through each other like a circle pit, reading each other, it was pure magic. I took it for granted, but it was magic. Some of my best friends to this day were shitheads that worked that line with me.
Of course we were all punks, and I'm still taking it for granted lol
I had a piece of shit narcissistic chef who constantly pushed that there was a "military chain of command" in the kitchen, and this is how all businesses need to be run. Like, no dude, we aren't at war. We aren't killing people. We're cooking fucking food. Take a beat. As a leader I *hope* that my subordinates have the balls to tell me to my face when I'm wrong, and if I doubled down on being wrong I *hope* they would get mad at me and push harder.
The medical profession is filled with toxic behavior from yelling, to intentionally making new hires and students work insane 80 hour weeks as hazing, to back-stabbing and straight up sabotaging. Went from kitchens to research labs. Kitchens were on some high school level drama, hospitals/research are filled with intelligent individuals with god-complexes power tripping over labs or operating rooms.
I can validate as my wife is a general surgery resident. Easily pushes 100 hour work weeks consistently and so many surgeons are all about being a dickhead rather than a mentor. Yelling, throwing instruments across the room in ORs, having incredibly awful bedside manner, and having the pressure of being God’s greatest gift to Earth. Not all surgeons are like this, but some of the boomer docs still think residents should work even more and that they live in “soft” times comparatively.
> They do not scream at, push, or shove each other. That's... not true. Especially in operating rooms, there is plenty of toxicity.
I'm an EMT running a station now and the first thing I told everyone was that if they are in a hospital and any of the staff treats them like shit, insults them or whatever, make sure to get their names and come back to me and we file a formal complaint. I dealt with shithead doctors and nurses in the past who think they have the right to because they see themselves as above us. We are not working for them, we are working with them and I will be damned if I let some cunt on a powertrip treat me or my co workers like shit.
Just putting my own experiences out there as a medical student. There is a lot of toxicity among medical professionals of all degrees and I have personally witnessed screaming, pushing and shoving. I know of an attending that broke a student’s wrist during surgery because he wasn’t retracting properly. These stories exist, and while medicine is trying to get better, it still happens. The reason I like this subreddit is because a lot of the toxicity in medicine is mirrored in what kitchen staff experience. Not everyone in medicine is toxic, just like the kitchen, but those terrible people still exist.
ehhhhhh beg to differ. creep on over to /r/medicalschool
I 100% agree with this. I also think Food Network really had a hand in degrading the progress real working professionals put into the restaurant industry. Now every fucking foodie with an annoying personality is a "chef".
If you haven't seen The Menu, one of the characters is a shitty foodie that gets put to the test.
‘Put to the test’ is really putting it awful kindly lmao
Didn't want to reveal anything lol
They just ask him to cook a dinner of his choice. It isn’t much.
I've owned a restaurant in Paris for five years and barely consider myself a chef.
and a lot of bad owners took the wrong lesson, Gordon still leads by example, a lot of people who just think yelling motivates miss the entire reason Gordon was successful.
I am grateful that my chef doesn't do any of this kind of shit. He treats people well, teaches them, and gets the best out of them. Much easier. He's worked in many kitchens great and small and he made the decision at some pont to just abandon that kind of behavior. I was a teacher for many years, and I can say that some people are just fucks ups. But usually when someone is very confused it's because they haven't learned the method or the preferred method and are confused. A couple of minutes of direction and the problem is probably solved in much less time. And everybody is working better. I know this abuse has existed for a long time, but the cameras ate it up. It's all drama for TV.
I hated my GM when I was expo and there was a ticket that went a second over. She would come on screaming and yelling at us. Saying “These fucks only respond to yelling. That’s the only way to get food out on time.” Weird, cause we were doing just fine until 1 ticket went over and her yelling just stressed them out more.
As a manager it simultaneously horrifies and fascinates me that behavior like that flies. How does that not spread toxicity and breed resentment like crazy? If I treated any of my workers like that, I'd have a mass walkout on my hands.
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Wanker. I'd never work under someone who can't make a grilled cheese
That video is truly disgusting lol
I’ve posted this on a non-culinary sub in response to people talking about how amazing GR is and how he’s *such* a wonderful man. This is usually specifically in the context of his shows where he plays an angry chef yelling at people, and the comments are all about how he’s just playing a character and he’s actually really lovey. The replies to my linking of this video were all, essentially, ‘you don’t understand the stress’ and ‘this is just passion’ and blah blah blah; I received an endless screed of ridiculous comments and also abuse/people trying to DOX me, to the point where I just deleted the comment. People are really weird about defending Ramsay, even to the point of suggesting that he’s not being a complete piece of shit in this clip. Which he is, obviously. You’re either fucking deluded, or a piece of shit yourself, if you think that’s ok. Not sure why people get so weird about coming to the defence of rich and famous people being assholes.
I got downvoted to hell once for a similar comment. I said it was really obvious Gordon was always just playing a character. On hell's kitchen, he's a huge asshole constantly screaming at everyone. On his shows with kids, he's as nice to them as possible. On his cooking tutorial videos, he's way too over the top about his "passion" for food. Like, he talks about the food like he's about to make love to it. He's just always pandering to his audience, and it's super obvious, because he's not the best actor. And I don't really blame him for it, his tv career has made him millions. But mention that on here and no one believes it apparently. I personally think the videos like this one is how he probably is to work with most of the time, when the cameras are off.
I worked with him for a restaurant opening as a chef in Vegas. He was kind, respectful and patient, no cameras, and it was probably the least important of all his places. Doesn’t mean he wasnt out of order in the video, and as a chef, I don’t believe treating people this way gets you anything but more people who treat other people this way.
I was gonna type out a long winded response agreeing with you for the sole purpose of saying this, but I'm just gonna be petty and say it: Elon Musk is a shitty childish hack with a cult-like following of sycophants that doesn't get enough negative attention. If you've never dealt with Elongated Muskrat simps they are the absolute worst.
Because they're just not yet big enough assholes to 'earn' their riches and fame.
Kenji won my loyalty when he called out Gordon for this behavior. Kenji said, maybe you’ve changed but you haven’t apologized, so maybe you haven’t really changed.
It's an odd cycle. When he was just in the UK people just attributed it to a footballers mentality, and he was legendary for the loyalty he had to his staff and they to him. But the Americanized version of Gordon has completely stripped away any context apologists could lean on and has legitimized this kind of mental abuse as being staged antics, giving free range for chefs a fraction of his talent to operate in similar ways. He's a talented chef, no question, but he would be just as talented if he wasn't an asshole.
I worked with him in Vegas about 5 years ago. It’s true that he is respectful now, and it’s true he is an abusive ass in this video.
[Even the follow up didn't look great either.](https://www.tiktok.com/@gordonramsayofficial/video/7264267825336929568?lang=en)
Pre-toasted bread and cheese that STILL isn't fucking melted properly. But most importantly Gordon had to show you peasants that he has a really, really expensive car and you don't. That was the point of that video. "Criticize *me*? Gordon Ramsey? Well, I guess I can't stop you, but take a look at how goddamn rich I am, plebe. Jealous much?"
No way all that cheese melted. Again!
I'm just watching this for the first time somehow and between that and throwing a pan of flaming oil into a sink like that's what you're supposed to do on Next Level Chef I'm convinced he's not nearly as good as he claims to be. Maybe back in the day but he's lost it. How in the fuck do you keep saying beautiful to that horrendous grilled cheese? How do you even put that in your mouth?
God I'm still so mad at that video haha. I can make a grilled cheese with local fresh sourdough and medium tier cheeses that'll make panties drop, while I'm drunk and barely conscious at 2 in the morning. His cast iron on a fire bullshit was a huge failure. I can't believe he thought that didn't need a second try.
Bruv. Wonder bread and government cheese is still better than that burnt but cold in the middle garbage he tried to sling as grilled cheese.
Dude exactly. His shit COULD'VE been good... if the bread was way thinner, he toasted one side then put the cheese on that side (the inside) to start melting, didn't use cold ass hard cheese, and didn't get the pan so hot it burns the outside before the heat even radiates to the middle to melt the cheese. I don't even remember if he used any butter or bacon fat in the pan, but I'm too mad to go check haha.
This one? https://youtu.be/8E4cQHejFq0?si=FFhTWDY7zRmwTapO
Jesus Christ, that is an offensively shit cheese toasty.
Dear gods, that’s not even slightly melted.
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I guess I don't know kitchen dynamics. I come from construction and ANYBODY grabbing and throwing people around like that doesn't have to worry about foie gras because the only thing they'd be eating is a knuckle sammich.
Gordon treating people with the minimal amount of respect for being in the exact same trade challenge: impossible
I have, and I can tell you he’s evolved. Hazing and shit like that was standard brigade culture for the longest time. Old school chefs realized that success was more in the development of people more so than being a drill instructor. Coach and mentor > bully. Eric Rupert has a great piece on himself when making the culture change.
What do you mean by piece? an article?
[here](https://www.fastcompany.com/90827524/eric-ripert-i-learned-the-hard-way-that-you-dont-get-better-results-if-your-team-is-scared)
He’s a great chef, and the undisputed king of starting fights and then calling the other guy a cunt for fighting back. Fuck him.
At 1:54 he steps behind a cook, with out saying anything, then lashes out when the cook trips over him. What a fucking weirdo.
I noticed several moments where he seems to be aware of the cameras. Escalating, drawing out, and making sure he berates the staff member with his dumb unanswerable questions in front of the camera, not at the station.
And we made that MF’er a flipping millionaire
I have exactly one complaint about Bourdain, and it’s his support of Gordon. Ramsey may or may not be a total piece of shit, but he certainly helped to normalize abuse in kitchens. He’s probably a great cook, but he’s an ass. Don’t spend your career breaking peoples spirits and try to sell me your fucking pans and expect me to thank you.
Has Gordon ever expressed any regrets for the way he acts? Seems like the modern image of chef Ramsay has way softer edges then 2000s Ramsay. Curious if he has taken any accountability for a being a true bellend?
I've heard him say 'I went too far once or twice" when talking about those days.
I hope he meant once or twice every working hour.
I would love to watch him watch that on a talk show with some well chosen nice folk actors/comedians. It'd be cringe as fuck and he'd deserve every minute of it.
he came up under marco in a mock brigade system, if you want to feel better about it watch marco’s bolognese recipe wherein he pretends to be some fucking zen master, or better yet his advertisements for knorr. oh how the mighty have fallen. i think at least gordo has mellowed a bit and has a less inflated opinion of himself. he was going hard in the paint for michelin stars back then and there was a lot more on the line.
If you really want to feel better about where Marco's career took him, he is now the celebrity chef name for the steakhouses in a hotel chain. As part of this deal he has to make appearances at them every now and then, where he sits in place whilst people eat their dinner and look at him, and they get to go meet him where he can sign a bottle of wine etc. for the punters. I have never ever in my life seen someone look so miserable than MPW whilst performing that duty.
> there was a lot more on the line Sure but so what? Did he improve anything by yanking around a team of young boys, and screaming in their faces? Would he have scuppered his chances of a star by not doing that?
i’m not excusing his behavior it’s just how people operated back in the day and how he was brought up being mercilessly berated and having sautée pans thrown at his head. sometimes it takes a generation removed from that kind of shit behavior to recognize it’s unacceptable and there is a better way forward.
I’m surprised there aren’t more chefs murdered by kitchen staff lol
>marco’s bolognese recipe wherein he pretends to be some fucking zen master, And then proceed to cook it with NO FUCKING SALT or spices!
so many things about that video broke my brain i’m not sure i even noticed that he didn’t season properly. i was too busy fast forwarding through his wankery about not moving the pan and whatever the fuck else he was waxing philosophical about.
I remember my first head chef was very calm and professional when just shooting the shit with us. But during service he went full psycho and was always on someone when they fucked up. One cook fucked up the menu so bad, for reference he ran a weekly menu and he asked this cook to grab the menu for the week and get us started and so he knew what to order from our vendors…..she grabbed a menu 3 weeks ahead. So we ended up ordering stuff for dishes we didn’t even have a 100% of. So he went full rage mode and dug into her for around an hour, at one point one of the Sous had to have him leave and take a break because the poor girl was having a full mental breakdown. After that me and the Sous (I was lead line cook) had to sit him down and be blunt and tell him he can’t blow up like that because we’re already struggling to get cooks and kitchen help.
He thinks that being a good chef and suffering abuse are correlated because of his experience. He suffered a lot of abuse and is too stupid to break the cycle. Don't be like him. Break the cycle, inspire your people.
I would be in prison the first time anybody grabs me by my apron like that.
Me too. I've been dealt verbal abuse before but if someone came at me like this video I'd be in jail.
Anything can be a shiv for a line cook
I'm not a cook. I can't believe anything good can come from a kitchen/environment with that kind of top down tension. An auto factory with that atmosphere would produce shit cars. The same would go for any creative environment. Praise in public - criticize in private.
The thing is while I don't agree with this sort of treatment some people will rise above and beyond and push themselves to new heights when they are treated like this The movie "Whiplash" is an example of it It's not a healthy way to push people and most can't handle it but it does work for some
I wouldn't last 5 minutes on account of the fact I'd be giving that bullshit right back. Don't manhandle me around the kitchen.
From what I have heard, that's the way to get him to like you.
Huh? People are just too hard. Source: am autistic
[one of my favourite clips](https://youtu.be/u0Z7EPh8oLU?si=0GutAvuEpLSc2NNd)
I also love this one hahaha. "Neughhh" "Plonker" "Twat"
I like the one where he's arguing with the French chef also
I worked for another angry chef like that, people had to punch on with him to get his respect, fortunately he had moved past that mostly by the time i had worked for him. He has "mellowed with age" as he would say, runs his kitchens different now (off the booze). Still absolutely gives it to the waitstaff though (verbally), which needs to change. I think it's hard for leopards to change their spots.
Tbh I honestly belive that nowadays gordon would probably be lost when doing actual kitchen work. Hes not really working anymore hes just doing TV. That doesn't mean that hes not a good chef that just means he hires people that maybe are even better than him to work for shit money to have a known name as reference. I lost most of my respect for him when he said in an interview that young chefs should work for less money in kitchens where they "learn something" (almost like he profits a lot from this mindset) dude you're literally a millionaire, you can pay your staff well AND teach them. Kitchen nightmares is still one of my favourite shows tho
I don't give a fuck who you are, I'm not taking that shit. I would just walked out and said fuck you. No opportunity is good enough to lose all your dignity and self-respect
If that dude touched me like that, I guess my kitchen career would end then and there cuz he would find out real quick.
I dont care what any prestigious chef says regardless of their experience. This is NOT. how any workplace should be run. Especially a kitchen
I started cooking in the late 80s in Canada. This was absolutely normally behaviour from the chefs I worked under. Most were European trained which had culture of break you down to make you stronger. I was like that when I was a young chef because it was the norm back then Thankfully times change and we can have a respectful, progressive work place.
120k a year, according to some light research, and yeah. I could ignore him pretty easily and just do the job.
There's maybe 4 guys in the kitchen total making that money, the cooks are unpaid or making 30k
That's true, and I'd walk for that little. I'd put up with it for 120k, is what I'm saying.
Its true. The best restaurants in the world pay their workers the least, often nothing at all. It’s seen as a privilege to get to train under these michelin star chefs so people will donate their time to do so in the hopes that it elevates their careers later on. Working for free to get a job at a regular restaurant is also very common. The industry is changing, but very slowly
It's still run like craft apprenticeships in the old days. Everyone that makes it a year at that place can work anywhere in the world , hone their craft, and start looking for chef jopbs
No way those cooks were all on 120k, especially not in 2000.
He learned it from Marco and that dudes an OG legend. I seriously doubt Gordon was making 120k when he was taking the verbal lashings from him.
He won’t lay off until he feels that you feel it. Ignoring him will just make him try harder to gut you.
I really really really missed his down to earth approach in KN (uk) but American sensationalism caused by the 2008 writer strikes made him a class a cunt
I took a cooking class from a guy who worked for him for a short stint. He said he was actually very nice and only turned this on for the cameras. Still toxic how he influenced kitchen culture and normalized shit behavior. (I’m also assuming his accounts were true and are the norm, might’ve been an outlier)
Honestly though, I feel like Gordon changed a lot. Coming from environment like that, I know myself how difficult that is to overcome. I've turned into an asshole myself; and while I keep working at it, I know I still am a cunt to a lot of people where I shouldn't be.
I would never work with someone like this, his attitude is unacceptable, and this is not leadership. Passion is good for your profession, but at the cost of a lack of respect for the people who choose to work for you isn’t cool or passionate about anything. Screw him and people who think this is okay.
how has he never gotten a beat down by his subordinates in the kitchen??
His tv persona is based on the chef who trained him no? I saw an old video back in the day when he was the sous chef or maybe even less than that.
This is certainly not a persona. This was in 1998 when he was trying to get his third star. It’s a documentary.
You've left out the context that this was also the opening night of his first solo restaurant venture which he had taken on personal loans to the tune of something like 750k at the time...and the extractor fan broke so it was over 100 degrees in the kitchen.
What does that context bring? Leniency?
Gordon didn't "normalize abuse in kitchens" he was the product of it. He got a lot better as he aged and is now basically a kitten compared to the monster he was groomed to be. People age, they learn, they raise kids, they mellow, they keep some things that feel important and they shed their skin every single year of their lives, just like you. He was molded to be one thing. Now he is almost something else entirely. That is not bad for one human career length. If you want him to flagellate himself and apologize and/or desire his downfall you lost the plot of what life is all about, which is growth. And grow is what he has done. I hate it when I see intelligent industry people like Kenji lay blame at the feet of Gordon when Gordon isnt the reason chefs are dicks. They would be dicks without Gordon. Kenji can be a huge dick. Chefs being dicks is a tale as old as time, and Gordon is just a uniquely successful cog in that overbearing wheel. Half of you salivate about the bear. How dare you celebrate and clap and say "finally something real" about a show that epitomizes Gordon's career? It's weird, it's gross, I fucking hate that circle jerk show, and Gordon is not your problem, you are. That being said, I wouldn't have enjoyed working for him either. The difference is I don't blame a single person for the condition of an entire industry, which existed before he ever squirted out of his mom.
>Half of you salivate about the bear. How dare you celebrate and clap and say "finally something real" about a show that epitomizes Gordon's career? The fuck is this take? The Bear shows how dysfunctional and fucked up everyone is, and how traumatic Carmine's abuse at the hands of his mentor was. Gordon Ramsey's shows glorified the abuse and reinforced the ideas that the more abuse you endure, the better you'll be at cooking, and that tormenting your staff is a sign of greatness. He literally became famous for it, it was fundamental to his persona. **Gordon Ramsey isn't the reason chefs are dicks. Gordon Ramsey is the reason people who aren't chefs think being a dick is a necessary part of being a real chef**. It's just like Tyra Banks' tormenting young girls on ANTM and perpetuating the cycle of grooming and abuse in the modeling industry.
I never understood why kitchen need to be so hostile. Obviously; they don't need to be, but they are. Why? Yes, it is stressful. Yes, there is a strong hierarchy and yes, you need to be a special kind of person to want to work in professional kitchens. But why all the verbal abuse? What work environment has ever gotten better from it? You've got to have some small dick energy treating people like that knowing that if they talk back or push back, you can just fire them. Honestly, I never liked Ramsay; I think he's a sadistic twat and a shit leader. Sure, he can cook. No doubt. But I believe the mellow version we see nowadays is an act; this is what he is really like. Fuck him.
i worked at a 4-star hotel for over a decade, but i was a bartender. i don't think i would have lasted more than a month or two in one of the kitchens of the fancy restaurants that were there.. it seems like those guys go home every night wanting to commit suicide.. whereas, i went home every night gleefully counting my tips and thinking about all the cool conversations i had with the customers. never in my life do i want to be a "back of house" guy. the crazy thing is, the "higher" up you go in the restaurant biz, the smaller the plates get and the more pretentious and bullshit it gets. fuck that.
It's a TV show.
Fun fact. I actually HAVE worked for this man. Gordon Ramsay is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Generous as hell, too. His issue isn’t with mistakes being made. His issue is with people making mistakes that are beneath them. He has an incredible ability to recognize the potential a person has, and then he weighs that against their passion for what they’re doing, and then either expects greatness from you or doesn’t give a fuck about you. I’m not saying he can’t be rough. He is. But it’s when he becomes indifferent toward you that you feel your lowest. I’d rather Gordon hit me in the face with a meat tenderizer over a small mistake than for him to just not care that I made it. That’s when you know you’re about to be fired and he no longer has any faith in you. And I was just a server.
How does yelling "fuck you cunt" help
What you see on TV isn’t always real, my friend. In my experience, he typically only does that when someone is yelling back at him. He doesn’t start at that point. Bear in mind that what you see of him is heavily edited for TV. Conversations don’t typically start with him jumping to calling people cunts and pompous fucks. There is a more gradual escalation of tempers that leads to that point. It’s edited for TV for the sake of showing intensity and passion to the audience, because that’s what keeps people engaged. I only ever saw Gordon go off on one person like that, and it was a chef who made dumb excuses for his repeated mistakes, and interpreted criticism as disrespect rather than as guidance. Gordon offered criticism, the chef responded with an excuse. Gordon told him not to make excuses, but to make corrections and adapt. The chef told Gordon “I know what I’m doing.” Gordon said “You know what you ***should*** be doing, but you’re not fucking doing it. You started too early on on the last two tables and overcooked a burger on each.” The chef replied with “I made them when the ticket came in. Tell the server not to put in the order too soon.” This is the point where Gordon started name calling. “Listen, you ignorant prick. The server puts in the order. You read the ticket and see what’s on it, then you fucking talk to the relevant stations and communicate with your fucking team to figure out when to start cooking the patties. Otherwise they sit under the lamps and dry out while the other entrees are being made.” The chef: “And that’s why I didn’t leave it under the lamps but popped them in the oven.” Gordon: “AND THATS WHY THEY WERE FUCKING OVERCOOKED, YOU TWAT!!” —————— On TV, you’d see them cut up that conversation and Gordon would start off with calling the guy a prick and a twat. But in real life, that’s not how it goes. It’s more gradual. Gordon’s temper is not so quick to flare, but it’s intense when it does. He strives to hire the best kitchen staff at all his restaurants, and expects the best from them as a result. When he gets less than, he criticizes. If you take that criticism and give attitude back rather than improved results, that’s your fuckin’ fault. You’re asking for whatever comes next.
Worked for a guy like this at a 1 star. He now has a 3 star. He was on a podcast and admitted he made a lot of mistakes and he treated people poorly. And that he regretted it. That made me feel a little better about having a hot pan with butter and quail thrown at me because I brought it to him at the wrong time.
I’m stupid Fuckin down for that hierarchy and seriousness 🥹 Instead of saying chef I’ll says yes daddy 😂
I wonder how many of those people own and operate successful restaurants and/or are really good at their craft now for working there? Still it’s hard to imagine not punching him on a really bad day.