Transcript

Gordon Ramsay | SmartLess

From SmartLess · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 1 h 3 min · 13,260 words · 89 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Gordon Ramsay | SmartLess", an episode of SmartLess published June 9, 2025 (1 h 3 min, about 13,260 words). It mentions 56 people, works and ideas, including Michelin, Toronto, Queen and Beaver, Stevie Wonder, Smash burger.

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 10:00: Queen and Beaver, Toronto, Angelina Diana, Gordon Ramsay
  2. – 20:00: Michelin, Gastro pub, Chelsea, Michelin Star
  3. – 30:00: Stevie Wonder
  4. – 40:00: Scrambled eggs, Smash burger, Atlanta, Beef Wellington
  5. – 50:00: Ed Sheeran, London, Scrambled eggs
  6. – 1:00:00: Balsamic glaze, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, SmartLess, Smash burger
  7. – 1:02:31: Chelsea, London, Michelin, Michelin Star

Notable quotes from "Gordon Ramsay | SmartLess"

  • Be way later. yeah, but we've got a real series now. We got a real series. I was in Toronto this weekend. I did my hospital gig for the Michael Garin Hospital. We raised…
    about Toronto · at
  • The whole family and my dad and my sisters and everybody. We went to our pub, the Queen and Beaver, which is Jameson Kerr, which I'm also a part of.
    about Queen and Beaver · at
  • Moment. I know. Sorry. He has an obsession with cold plunges. Will, you love that. And a few Michelin stars under his belt. All while turning swearing into a love language.…
    about Michelin · at
  • Know that market and you've got to know how to so all jokes aside, so the Queen and Beaver is a gastro pub in Toronto that my friend Jameson Kerr started and he was a restaurant tour.
    about Gastro pub · at
  • Celebrates 28 years and 25 years at three star Michelin. So wow that's amazing. That's in Chelsea a tiny little restaurant just what's it called? Say it again. restaurant…
    about Chelsea · at
  • Your plate, forgive the pun, but you do have so many things on your plate. And I wonder is do you attribute some of that to the discipline that you did learn early on from…
    about Stevie Wonder · at
  • I'm I'm a big fan of Yeah. In-N-Out Burger. I love burgers, honestly. A great smash burger. I just love burgers.
    about Smash burger · at
  • It. I don't think I've ever had it. I'll send you delicious. And then second is scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs for me.
    about Scrambled eggs · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Stevie Wonder — Person · 3 mentions · first at
  • Angelina Diana — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Football. Yeah. His resume includes washing dishes in an Indian restaurant and once cooking lunch for Princess Diana. These days, he's got a soft spot for In-N-Out burgers. I…
  • Gordon Ramsay — Person · 1 mention · first at
    He's bringing the fire in and out of the kitchen. It's the wonderful and delicious Gordon Ramsay who I've loved forever. Guys, just met him a couple weeks ago with you, Willie. Wait, what?
  • Rob Wade — Person · 1 mention · first at
    That wasn't the first time you met? No, we met through our friend Gordon, we're going to let you speak in a moment. Rob Wade, right, Gordon? Gordon, we went we had dinner with…
  • Ed Sheeran — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Sunroof? Yeah. I've been through all three of my sons. I said, Oh, can you play Ed Sheeran? So they started playing Ed, but can you turn up the volume? I can hear all these noises.
  • Bradley Cooper — Person · 1 mention
  • Holly Ramsay — Person · 1 mention
  • Jack Ramsay — Person · 1 mention
  • Jason Bateman — Person · 1 mention
  • Jiro Ono — Person · 1 mention
  • Matilda Ramsay — Person · 1 mention
  • Megan Ramsay — Person · 1 mention
  • Michael Grant Terry — Person · 1 mention
  • Sean Hayes — Person · 1 mention
  • Tana Ramsay — Person · 1 mention
  • Will Arnett — Person · 1 mention

Books & papers

Companies & orgs

Products & tech

  • SmartLess — Product · 2 mentions · first at
    You. I just love everything you do. So, I thank you for being on. congrats on Smartless, by the way. it's my one two go-to every week when we download. And yeah, thank you guys.
  • Hershey's Caramel Syrup — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Brought Jay, he brought his own Hershey's caramel syrup first of all in his pocket. In his pocket, by the way, and then I asked if I could have weight for this film. You're going to be 420 in. No, no, no. I'm still on I'm still.
  • Sundays — Product · 1 mention · first at
    And then, by the way, so everybody made fun at which point they bring Sundays out for everybody. And every person asked for it, for it. Yeah, it was a good call. It was amazing. Everybody had individual hot fudge Sundays brought.
  • Balsamic glaze — Product · 1 mention · first at
    And and that disgusting sticky inepid balsamic glaze. I love I'm with you. Yeah. I don't like it either. It's too sticky. I hate that [ __ ] And one and I think you already answered this, but the one food that you if you had to.
  • Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Stretch and I found and I never knew it exist. Kitchen Nightmares. It was Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares before you came here to do it and I was Oh my god, it was a channel that had it on 24/7. I watched every episode of that.
  • Cold foam — Product · 1 mention
  • Michelin Guide — Product · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

  • Smash burger — Concept · 3 mentions · first at
  • Scrambled eggs — Concept · 3 mentions · first at
  • Gastro pub — Concept · 2 mentions · first at
  • Michelin Star — Concept · 2 mentions · first at
    Because you keep it small and powerful, right? I love that. And for a for a dummy like me, the a Michelin star obviously is sort of like the gold medal of a restaurant. One is…
  • Upfronts — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    Always coming from the airport or going to the airport, it seems. No, we've got the upfronts today. So in New York City, people still have those even though the network television business is kind of [ __ ] me. Yes.
  • Beef Wellington — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    Two things. when we took over at Clarities back in 2004, I sort of re reintroduced the Philip Beef Wellington, which is a showstopper and that's that's like your perfect sort of That's like beef in a pastry, right? Yeah.

Places & events

  • Toronto — Place · 3 mentions · first at
  • Chelsea — Place · 2 mentions · first at
  • London — Place · 2 mentions · first at
    She's a an incredible police officer back in London. Wow. Then we have the twins at 25. Jack's a Royal Marine Commando. Holly's into a fashion. And then there's Matilda who's 23, who's literally just come back from culinary.
  • New York City, New York — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Always coming from the airport or going to the airport, it seems. No, we've got the upfronts today. So in New York City, people still have those even though the network television business is kind of [ __ ] me. Yes.
  • Atlanta — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Whole thing. You just sort of little bits and pieces. Yeah, Gordon. I work a bit in Atlanta and I'm always really surprised and Oh, here we go. Plug in Atlanta and excited…
  • Thruxton — Place · 1 mention · first at
    A track out. Wow. truck them down there. I bring in mates from Silverston and Thruxton are two big tracks.
  • Paris — Place · 1 mention
  • Silverstone — Place · 1 mention
  • Tokyo — Place · 1 mention

Full transcript with timestamps

Hey guys, it's it's 2025. Okay, it's 2025. What are your dreams for this year? Um, oh god, I don't give a [ __ ] Welcome to smart. Smart less. Smart less. smart. I got to tell you, you know, when it's not my guest, I never really know what kind of tone to take with the coffee chat because like what if it's like, you know, when you can go balls out, literally really I can start cursing right now saying bad words. By the way, the shorts shorts I'm wearing, I could go balls out real easy, you know. We will stop it. You just send your boss out of here. I mean, don't show us your boss. I'm not going to. What? How dare you? All right, now listen. Oh, now listen. Hang on a second. No, no, no.

First of all, don't don't go to your script. What are you talking about? I have been working on this. I saw your eyes. Let me see your material. So, now here's my thing. No, I was going to say I was going to say that Jason Jason missed Willy's birthday last week. We We missed you. How'd that go? But listen to this. This is I I told Will I was going to say this on on the show to you, Jay. You can never make fun of me for Well, you can for my eating habits and my diet. This fella right here at his own birthday dinner. [ __ ] pig. I know.

Brought Jay, he brought his own Hershey's caramel syrup first of all in his pocket. In his pocket, by the way, and then I asked if I could have weight for this film. You're going to be 420 in. No, no, no. I'm still on I'm still on one one uh one cheat meal a week. By the way, I didn't bring in my pocket. I made Archie, my 16-year-old, put it in this muled. I had too much shame. He muled it in for me. Then then Kim said, "Is that I brought it out?" Kimmo said, "Is that your tanning lotion?" And then, by the way, so everybody made fun at which point they bring Sundays out for everybody. And every person asked for it, for it. Yeah, it was a good call. It was amazing. Everybody had individual hot fudge Sundays brought.

It's like when you when you drive past a car crash, you're going to look, you know, but you don't want to. I guess I guess human nature it was but it was just so rich watching people making jokes. Look at you with your camera. Get it over here. Okay. Yeah. And then and then I tried to, you know, cuz I missed it. So then the next day I uh I I I texted Willie on the day of the first uh Maple Leaves uh game of the next round. And I said, "Hey, I feel bad. I'm I'm going to fly into town and I'd love to see you. I'm going to pick you up at 5."

Now 5:00 was when the puck dropped. He didn't. He's so I I I know he didn't know what I was what the joke was there. He was just like, "Oh, you did." Of course I knew what the joke was. Really? Cuz I did it on the on game two and you still didn't get it. I don't I don't get what the joke is. The joke is like you must not be busy. Yeah. You need to see you right at the point that the that the puck drops in the game. You can't Yeah. Can't be talked to. No, I did. And uh um but anyway, uh yeah, the Leafs, who knows what's going to happen when they go forward in this uh because this will be way later. Uh yeah, but we've got a real series now. We got a real series. I was in Toronto this weekend. I did my hospital gig for the Michael Garin Hospital. We raised millions of dollars for the hospital, which is amazing. We love This is a hospital I like to be in.

Do you still take LRA? Do you still take LRA? Michael Garren Hospital. We take LRA. It used to That's really funny. I have 600,000 LAR here. $2. Remember it was used to be like a hund,000 LAR for $2. Yeah. So I know there's nowhere else to go and you get like $100. So that's unfortunate that it didn't time out with the Leafs being in Toronto, right? They were playing uh down Florida. They were playing in Florida, but we watched I watched with the whole family and my dad and my sisters and everybody. We went to uh to our pub, the Queen and Beaver, which is Jameson Kerr, which I'm also a part of.

That's a rough title. The Queen and Beaver. It's pretty good. The Queen and Beaver. Um and uh it's a great pub if you're in Toronto. And um you ever sub out that N for an S. Um Queens Queen's Beaver. Oh, the Queens. Oh. Oh. Queen Beaver. Add an S. Take an N out. No, you take Queen and Queen and Beaver. and beaver. Queen apostrophe n beaver. You take out the apostrophe n. You put an apostrophe s. The queen's queen's beef. Well, here's first of all, it's and it's not it's not the I'll meet you at the queen's beef. It's not It's not It's not Queens. I had the greatest meal at the Queen's Beef.

God, but that's the joke. The joke is salty there at the Queens. Wow. Guys, my guest today Uhhuh. is a father of offended. No, he won't be. He's a father of six, former soccer hopeful. Football. Yeah. His resume includes washing dishes in an Indian restaurant and once cooking lunch for Princess Diana. These days, he's got a soft spot for In-N-Out burgers. I just had two yesterday, which is a true story. Two. I did. I got two. I ate them in my car. Let me check out the believability scale on that. Oh, no. Ding. By the way, and some of the beef fell in between my seats and I had to get it out because I knew it would smell if it got So, you had to suck it out. I did with my straw.

Is that the first time you suck beef out of seeds? Sorry gang. At the Queen's beef. At the Queen's Beef at a That's a different That's a different one. The Queen. Then we went over for dessert. We went for dessert at the Peach Crease afterwards. God, guys, we're losing listener by the moment. I know. Sorry. He has an obsession with cold plunges. Will, you love that. And a few Michelin stars under his belt. All while turning swearing into a love language. Today he's bringing the fire in and out of the kitchen. It's the wonderful and delicious Gordon Ramsay who I've loved forever. Guys, just met him a couple weeks ago with you, Willie. Wait, what?

We just ran into you, Gordon. What are you talking about? Where? Yeah, over at our friend Bradley's place. Yeah, that's right. Oh, I didn't know that. Now, how do how did how do you all know each other, Willie? How did that all Was that that wasn't the first time you met? No, we met through our friend Gordon, we're going to let you speak in a moment. Rob Wade, right, Gordon? Gordon, we went we had dinner with Rob, our friend Rob, guys. Good to see you all. And uh thank you. Great to see you. Wait, this is amazing. I've never met you, Gordon, and I'm a huge fan. And meanwhile, I didn't know you knew these two guys. Yeah, catch up, Sean. I'm here. That's why I can't wait. Gordon, this is what I want to know. Thank you so much for being here. You're such a good dude. Where are we finding you right now? Because you're always, every time I see you, you're always coming from the airport or going

to the airport, it seems. No, we've got the got the upfronts today. So in New York City, people still have those even though the network television business is kind of [ __ ] me. Yes. Unfortunately, they do. They do. And they're painful. Oh my god. The first one I ever went to. So for Tracy, the the upfronts are where uh networks put up their shows, you know, they display kind of what the fall season's going to be and the ad agencies are going to commit to ad dollars before they pre-sell all the commercials, right? And now streamers are doing it, too. I'm on my way there for uh Netflix. Oh wow. So the first time I wentord was Yeah. See you there, Gordon.

The first time I went to an upfront I was like, "Can't we handle this into a fax machine? Like can't we just send an email saying like what the shows are and why do you have to like the dog and the pony up? How was the how were the how were the laughs to that joke?" Hey, listen. No, it wasn't a joke. I was serious. It's like, can't we just First of all, Gordon is keeping single-handedly keeping Fox on the air. That is true said. That needs to be said. 20 years. 20 years. 20 years. In 2000, 2004, we came over. As you know, there was not many mainstream uh foodie programs on the network. So, and how many shows in 20 years? Um, I think we've had is it 10, 11, or 12? Wow. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Good lord. It's really impressive. I've watched every single episode of Kitchen Nightmares. I love it. Stop it. I for real. I really have. He's obsessed. I love it so much. Has there ever been a

celebrity edition? Could Could Sean be on the celebrity edition? I don't want to get yelled at. Please don't open a restaurant, Sean. Please, please, please don't. I got a good I got a good name for it. Go on. The Queen's Beef. Queen's Queen's Beef. Jesus Christ. That's the problem. You know, that's the one big problem in this industry that anybody can open a restaurant. It's not like an actor. It's not like a doctor or a lawyer, a barrel. Um, I go back to that dinner party when they say, "Hey, Sean, your food's [ __ ] delicious, man. You should open a restaurant." So, the next day you start looking at taking leases out in the neighborhood for these incredible little beastro. And then that reality turns into a nightmare because they sort of they don't fully understand that it's a business. It's a business.

Right. Like, I'm just going to cook for my friends and other people will like it, too. Yeah, that's right. And pardon the pun here, but do have you cracked what maybe the secret sauce is to keeping a a restaurant open because I would imagine when it first opens, you need sort of uh to be somewhat of a of a popular restaurant tour where you've got a certain client base that they're going to come in and they're going to populate it for the first week, month, whatever. And then of course the food's got to be good and that can carry you for another couple of months. But how do you get into years after years after years? How do you keep it hot and fresh and Yeah, great question. First of all, you need to keep it local, right? Um the secret of any great restaurant is filling it Monday to Wednesday. You know, Thursday, Friday, Saturday takes care of itself.

And so that's the essence um of getting it right. Filling it Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights, especially in the middle of November and early into Jan. So stay local, okay? Keep the produce uh simple. Don't over complicate things. And and don't go crazy on the prices cuz it's a lot easier to make money on alcohol than it is on food. So, if we go into a restaurant locally and you know it's uh decently priced, honestly, you'll spend more money naturally on a cocktail or a bottle of wine. And so, that's where you make your percentages.

But, it's got to be seasonal. It's got to be local and you've just you got to know your market. You've got to really know that market and you've got to know how to you know, so all jokes aside, so the Queen and Beaver is a gastro pub in Toronto that my friend Jameson Kerr started and he was a restaurant tour. So, he had another restaurant and then he opened a few and and in including the Queen and Beaver and the Oxley. Now he runs exclusively Queen and Beaver and I have a small interest in it and have since it since the beginning. Oh, I'll say it one more time then. But that is his that is his business and that's what he does, right? That's his full-time thing and he runs a business and we are we we're in the penny business so we we have to count everything and everything matters and everything is locally. We we make everything in the restaurant. All the bread is made in the restaurant.

It's well priced and the menu is very good and it's very simple. Again, it's just a gastro pub and beaver just above Dundas. open seven days a week. But that's the thing though. But but like Jason was saying after all those years of like because I go to this restaurant. We all have our favorite restaurants. One of mine and well Jason's like it's McDonald's. No it's um it's I love chinchin but no um you love salt. And and after after years and years how do you find the energy and the passion to maintain and sustain that restaurant? Yeah, I think it's uh important to change your staff every 3 to four years um so they don't get complacent and lazy. I've been a great uh motivator of planning succession as well. Um this industry is an absolute [ __ ] and it's notorious for the burnout and so when I start to spot that in the team uh it's time to take a bit of a sbatical and and move them on. Um

Russian called Ramsey this year celebrates 28 years and 25 years at three star Michelin. So um wow that's amazing. That's in Chelsea a tiny little restaurant just what's it called? Say it again. Uh restaurant Gordon Ramsey. So I decided Gordon Ramsey after getting screwed over by so many partners you know at the age of 30 when I convinced my wife to sort of sell any form of asset we had in order to conjure up some form of deposit to get my own restaurant. Um yeah uh back in 1998. Yeah. Wow. What type of stuff do you guys serve there? So highly seasonal.

Again, it moves from um going into uh summer now coming out of spring. Um it functions uh 5 days a week. It's one brigade. We're closed Sunday, Monday. And so it's sort of one team, one dream. And that's how you conceptualize something that can run for decades because you keep it small and powerful, right? I love that. And for and for a for a dummy like me, the a Michelin star obviously is sort of like the uh you know, gold medal of of a restaurant. One is great, two is better, three is the best. 14. He's had You've had 14. Is that right? Yeah, we've won. Yeah. Over the years. We've got currently just just under 10. But um Three Stars is the ultimate. And it's not just about the pompous wine seller and the thick linen.

And yeah, it's about the food being consistent and the food being immaculate. And it's not easy to get as Gordon. What he's not so hard to get just one, let alone two, let alone three. It's it's the most difficult thing to do. But like like there are for for I'm slightly smarter for some reason about hotel stars. Like there are there are certain things a hotel has to do in order to qualify for four stars versus three, five stars versus four. What is it that gets you a star? What is it that gets you two? What does that get you three? Mhm. Sure. So um the first star is based on consistency and good food. The second star is a level of excellence that is very rarely found again with great service. And third star is, you know, it's it's utter perfection, but perfection every day, not just when the head chef's there, it's on a daily basis, lunch and dinner. So go back to Russian Gordon Ramsey, we've only got 10

tables. So everyone says, "How do you maintain that?" Because we cook 40 lunch and 40 dinner. There's 80 guests a day, but we're on what, 64 staff, you know, in that entire place. Um, so you look at the Wow. Yeah. But then then you got your lease and you got to pay over overhead and they kind of Yeah. And then how does it So is it is it like a team of these Michelin folks that that kind of go around the world. They don't let you know that they're coming I would assume and they just kind of pop in every once in a while and then like Ratatouille like the Pixar that's exactly that. I mean they're all incognito. You never get to see or or hear them. Maybe they'll introduce themselves once a year and you know it's nice to meet you God and uh I will give you one star maybe.

They they they don't they say nothing. They just pay the bill. Uh can I have a quick word of the chef? How's it going? And they keep it very very minimal. You know that. Except for the big fat tire guy. Except for the big fat tire guy. He's he's hard to miss. He's the fat [ __ ] that ate everything. Yeah. By the way, you know, it is it is Michelin tires, right? As you as you know. Gordon will tell you. It's the same company. So Gordon, will you tell us will you tell the story? Do you know the story of how they they originated? Right. I would like to know. Yeah. And by the way, Gordon, before you go, you've had 17 Michelin stars. Thank you. 17. So, so Gordon, tell them how it started. So, um, it's in the southwest of France, and this company, as you know, was Formid for Tires. And so, um, they came up with the idea back in 1900, um, to sort of formulate this guide. So, as you travel across France, um, um, you sort of stop

off and you pick up and you you sleep in these little hotels and they start sort of sprinkling stars over them. But it's the longest serving guide in the world. It's one of the most prestigious and it's the guide that you never get to know. So, uh, isn't that isn't that amazing? Yeah. So, it started I've only I've only been once. I've I've been to one three star Michelin restaurant and that was in Tokyo. I went to Jirro and uh Yeah. Beautiful. And and he made me he made me my dinner in front of me. Jirro the 2015.

That's incredible. The documentary is amazing cuz he was amazing. He's got the sons there, but he won't hand it over to his sons. They don't think they're sort of, you know, competent enough. Have you Sean and Jason, have you seen that documentary Dream of Sushi? So, he has the one guy, the Jirro, Dreams of Sushi, J I R O. And and he has an apprentice who's making that one special dish that I think it's a sort of a cake type thing. And and he doesn't let him make it to to serve. He has to be an apprentice and practice for 10 five years. Five or 10 years. 5 years to wash the rice and then 10 years to sort of get up to speed. It's insane. Yes. And that's the sort of level of perfection that it takes to become a three star Michelin three star. Well, you have to really want to do it. Yeah. But I'll be honest, once you get there, you got to delegate. You got to get it off your radar in a way that you you you bring

the next tier of talent through. Otherwise, you're going to get change of that stove. And yeah, I want to get into like where did you find like who was your inspiration to be fearless? because you're the I mean you're fearless in business, in in in your restaurants, in life. I mean, you just go and go and go and you attack life. It's crazy. Yeah. I think I'll be honest. I think that's growing up in poverty in a way that you know, coming from a a council state uh uh sort of deprived area, going to school with like holes in your trousers and your mom having to put leather patches on your knees, which then actually turned out quite cool. um getting called out by your mates cuz you're having to line up in the queue for dinner tickets because you didn't have the money to buy food. And then of course the biggest embarrassment, I had my big sister and my little brother at the same school. Mom and dad could never

we never bought independent individual photos. So we had to go for that family shot that all three of us together that the school were paying for. So you you were pulled out of class on the sort of last day of those shots and made to feel so bad because they knew you weren't doing individual shots and anyone got called out in the middle of the lesson. When did you know when did you know so growing up in that uh when did you know that like I'm going to make it out of here. I'm smart enough. I have the tool. I have the brain to to get me out of where my situation was from that moment.

Yeah. Um yeah was first off as you know I started in soccer so I had a really strong sporting uh background at the age of 18 I got uh released from Glasgow Rangers in a way that I was in their academy and I got you played that you played under 14 football right yeah under 14 under 16 under 18 but because I was so big and sort of lanky and fast I sort of played two years above my station so I was playing in a game and it was a friendly game preseason friendly game and I I got involved in a horrific uh tackle and I I smashed my uh my cartilage and and tore my crucial ligament, my left knee. Naturally left footed. Back in those days, you weren't ambidext. You would never sort of kicking brilliantly with both feet. So, naturally left footed was quite rare.

And then I got sort of uh released. Uh I got let go. They told me they'd keep an eye on me and all that [ __ ] that comes with, you know, a sorry a sorry goodbye. And then um I got into a catering course uh just a basic college course where I'd spend 2 days a week at college and 5 days a week in a local hotel and that's how it started. And so football but but initially football really saved you would you say from from your situation early on? Uh yeah, I mean yeah, exactly that because it sort of not just kept me out of trouble, but it it got me into a level of discipline that I enjoyed, but most importantly, uh I excelled, you know, I really did. Yeah, we'll be right back. And now back to the show.

That's interesting you bring up the discipline because you are and and Sean said it. You're so driven, but you also come across as as a very disciplined person. You, as I mentioned, you travel a lot. You have a and so many things on your plate, forgive the pun, but you do have so many things on your plate. And I wonder is do you attribute some of that to the discipline that you did learn early on from being part of a team, from being being involved in sports so heavily? Yeah, I mean, listen, restaurants are dangerous games, right?

when you start indulging, when you start drinking, when you start sitting down with customers and you start opening a bottle of wine and you start looking for the second, third, all of a sudden um you're then a customer. And so, um I've got that level of discipline that it's not there to be indulged. Restaurant called Ramsey, would you believe? We've only eaten there as a family. Uh God, we've only eaten that restaurant in 27 years. Three times. Once with Megan to celebrate her 16th birthday. Uh once was with friends. And the last time I ate there, would you believe, was with Coupe when he was filming Burnt. Oh, no. With Bradley. And we had dinner together. And he said, "Do you come here often?" I said, "No, I'm embarrassed." What? Of your success? No, not so much of the success. I'm just embarrassed about how plush this thing is because we never grew up with this. I created this. I worked for it. But I don't want to

indulge. I think that's the discipline coming back again. But having that opportunity to excel so early um in in soccer and giving yourself a sense of of of excellence of of uh now that you well once you once you came into a leadership position did you find that you were eager to give that opportunity to to your staff uh whether they be a sue chef, prep chef or I mean it how how did that how did that inform the way in which you led uh folks? unselfishness and um the the the non-control freak in me and I suppose you know getting to the very top and winning that third mission star I I grew up watching mom handle three jobs and she was a a cook in a a beautiful little restaurant in Stratford Haven. So yeah after soccer practice I'd go there and prep the veg for her.

It was mainstream food. But she installed that work ethic in me early. And so I knew when I got to the very top, if I didn't delegate at the age of 33 and teach beneath me in a way that you got everyone up to that platform, uh I I I would kill myself because it is that relentless unless you take a step back. So one minute you're playing in the orchestra, next minute you're conducting the orchestra and that orchestra is those 25 chefs on a daily basis. You then have to teach quickly and offload what you've got to empower the other others to get on that platform. You know, it's so funny because often times when you see especially when they cut the commercials together for your various shows, um you they sort of cast you as the guy who's coming, you're being really hard on the people who run the restaurant and they're quite slow and they're dumb and you're smart and you're the villain or you're you're the star but you're the

villain or you're the good guy. you're saving them, but you're you love and I think that there's like this I certainly before I had ever watched the show when I saw those things, the misconception I had was that that it was all ego and in fact it's the opposite. You you understand that you've actually got very there's very little ego in it. You you understand that the restaurant or the business is the star and that you everybody has to be on board pulling towards making that thing succeed. Exactly. Right. Otherwise, you've spent decades as a busy idiot. And I'll be honest, you know, seriously, because you you just spent, you know, listen, the the hours are unsociable. You know, the money [ __ ] on the journey up like in any career. And so, you got to value that process. And so, when I started realizing all these issues, um, it was about, you know, the lack of empowerment. You've got to get them on

the same page. And so, yes, it's brutal. Yes, I'm honest. Yes, I am absolutely in their face cuz it's bloody frustrating when they're not listening. Right. And Kitchen Nightmares, let's not forget, I don't rock up unannounced. They do ask me in there, by the way. Okay. And they promise me they have cleaned up before I got there. And I'm thinking, "Holy [ __ ] So, you cleaned up and it's still a [ __ ] hole. What was it like two weeks ago?" Yeah. I mean, but the but the psychological journey that you take them on is so funny. One of the greatest oneliners you had was um you you you walk in there to someone, you said you're like a one hit wonder except your one hit is [ __ ] burnt.

Jesus. I got I I got accused once uh of bringing a mouse in my pocket and um yeah, I think it was outside Philly uh in a restaurant and um there was a mouse running across the floor and I said, "Look, we're about to open the doors. There's a [ __ ] mouse on table seven. Said, "Stop it. You brought that in." I said, "Sorry, beg you pardon?" He said, "Yeah, roll the cameras back." I said, "What do you mean roll the cameras back?" "Yeah, play the tape." I said, "What do you mean play the tape?" I don't do that [ __ ] Are you saying that I put this mouse in my Yeah, I saw you shake your leg as you came through the door. You shook the mouse out of your your ankles. That's ratouille, isn't it?

Honestly, I swear to God. What's the grossest without naming it? What's the grossest situation you ever walked into in a restaurant? It's every episode. I know, but there must be one that stuck with you that's like Oh god. I I think um recently I was in one restaurant and you know sort of the hot plate, the past. That's where everything comes to, right? And they had all these puff jars up there with like uh rice and lentils and grains. And I thought one of those jars had smashed cuz it's full of all these little grains. And until I got up close personal, I didn't realize it was actually full of rat [ __ ] And so I said to the chef, "Hey, have you seen what's on top of the pass? You know, this stuff could be dripping into the Well, it's not." I said, "Yeah, but it's rat shit."

He said, "Yeah, I'm going to clean it." I said, "But when are you going to clean it?" He said, "What do you expect me to do? [ __ ] shoot the rats?" I said, "No, clean your [ __ ] hole." And so he was cooking food. It's amazing. Under the hot plate with all these little tiny turds that had dehydrated, become like little bullets on top of the pass. Gross. Jason. Jason. God, this hurts you so much. I can't. Yeah. Yeah. Another another another oneliner. Sorry, this is the last one. You said to It might have been recently. You said, "You're so [ __ ] useless. You make a bloody brick wall look intelligent.

God, sometimes I don't even know I'm coming out with them. You know that sometimes it's just in the heat of the moment. Of course, they push your buttons, man. Yeah. Well, what what what really does and and if it changes, let us know. But I would imagine that your button gets pushed uh when you see people really not kind of rowing in the same direction, like not really being a good team member. Um or is it or is it lack of work ethic or concentration? What is it that really gets you? Um laziness. Yeah. Yeah. Laziness is the worst thing anyone can bring into any especially when you're working hard and you and people around you aren't as aren't where you are. Yeah, exactly.

That and there are so many tiny details and I always consider 10 little problems become one big problem at the end of the day. But when chefs start cutting corners in our business, you're screwed. It's it's the beginning of the end. And also hygiene. Um, no. But seriously, I you know, there's nothing worse than a sweaty fat [ __ ] that comes out of that kitchen and goes to the table and he's got dehydrated skin. He's got a beard that's untrimmed. He's sweating from the armpits. His fingernails are black. And he asks you, "How is your [ __ ] lunch?" I mean, the worst question. The worst question. First of all, you should never have sent that food if it wasn't good anyway. So, don't ask that question. Secondly, it's a bad advert for the restaurant, you know, and it's gross. And and and today's chefs need to be a lot more prolific, not just as a marketing tool, but just common sense.

And so, I hate laziness. I hate slobs. I'm not I'm not good at that. Yeah. Yeah. Being around. What What What do you guys What do you I I know what my pet peeves are when I walk into a restaurant, and they're not They're really pretty uh uh trivial. Do you guys start with welcome in? Well, first of all, welcome in. If I own a restaurant, well, I do. If anybody at the Queen Beaver says welcome in, you're gone. Um, I [ __ ] hate that sort of faux faux folksy [ __ ] And it's new, right? Isn't it just have a day? It's like when you play golf, they go have a day. [ __ ] off. Please. Hey, please. [ __ ] right off. That took over for touch base and uh circle back. Welcome in is gone. But also when when a when a waiter says, "So tonight, chef is preparing." I'm like, "I don't know chef." So stop referring to and chef is doing a braised beef again or it's going to be it's going to be Yes. Yes. It's going to be put on a

plate. Oh, is it? I hope so. Or soup of the day. What was it? Well, it's a roasted carrot and cumin. And what was the soup of the day yesterday? Roasted carrot and cumin. What was the soup last week? Roasted carrot and cumin. So, it's soup of the [ __ ] month. Okay. And isn't soup really just sauce? Can Can we dispel the whole Isn't it? It really is so right. It's salty. It's creamy. Like you could put it over a chicken breast. No, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, soups are magical. I remember going to Paris at the age of 22. I said to you earlier without a pot to piss in and I had to become French and not only was I running away from the hurt in soccer, but I just wanted to memorize myself in France and become French. And um my first uh my first job on the uh gam the sort of starter section was making this broccoli soup with go cheese ravioli. So they gave me these heads of broccoli and um a

pan of water. And I thought we'd need garlic, shallots, uh vegetable stock, but all it was was rolling boiling beautiful water, nicely seasoned. The fuettes, the little flowers of broccoli cooked for 2 minutes. So we we didn't lose the color. Then you drain those broccoli uh fuettes and then from there you use the water the broccoli was cooked in and you puree the broccoli and add the water back to it and it's most natural delicious flavored broccoli soup. Two ingredients, broccoli and water and then of course it gets sent into the Premier League with those little tiny goats cheese raviolis and it was so beautifully done. So no soup is not a [ __ ] sauce. No, it's not. And Sean. And Sean. And Sean. Uh, just for Sean, broccoli is a vegetable. That is It looks like a tree. It's not a Pop-Tart flavor. All right. Now, Gordon, why? My My mother is British and she was always sort of just like, well, you

know, Britain was never really known for its great food, she would always say. Why is that? And I and I hear that it has changed now. Can you walk us through that? Yeah. I mean, I got the piss. Uh, and when you take it out, yeah, when I was in Paris in the '9s, cuz we had such a dam bad reputation, you know, it was like roast beef, fish and chips, mushy peas, and it was it was dreadful. It was gray, it was dark, it was it was [ __ ] horrendous because it was heavily influenced from um I think it was the mining the mining towns in a way that it was like meat veg and you know, it was that sort of uninspired way of cooking with just absolute crap. And so I couldn't wait to get out of the UK to go and sort of get on that journey and start searching. And so France was it was this bedrock. It gave it gave birth to odd cuisine. And then from France I went to Italy. From Italy I went to Spain. And then from Spain, you know, I

came across and and and spent a year on this incredible yacht uh traveling around the world picking up multiple cultures. So um now the UK is this stunning melting pot. We're central Europe. We're 26 miles away from France and it's got some of the best best food in Europe now. We can rub shoulders with the French. We can rub shoulders in the US and uh yeah, it's a nation to be proud of. Now, not to get political, but do you think Brexit kind of uh is is dulling the the the cuisine influence? I think it's putting a bit of a sort of wedge between, you know, those those incredible countries. The crossover wedge with with blue cheese and bacon.

Sorry. So yeah, I'm I I never get into politics. I stay out of that [ __ ] because customers come to be neutral and to break bread without some chef's the influence of all of those countries that are so close to England, I'm sure helped to influence the the cuisine there, but no longer massively. What What do you What would you say? when you later wrestle explain if you can for our listener um when when you when an English when an Englishman describes going having his dinner, his supper, his tea um and and where they all fit and what time of day they fit and how they can be distinguished one from the other.

Yeah, that's a great question. First of all, I went to school um with porridge, which is your oatmeal, right? We didn't we we didn't use milk, we used it we used it with uh salt. I remember my father saying to me once that you're going to be you're going to be making your oatmeal with salt. And I said, "Dad, why what puts hairs on your bollocks?" I'm like, "Okay." Uh, okay. So, so we start off with uh porridge, oatmeal, and then um lunch is just a basic sandwich. And then you come home for your tea. And tea is a dinner, but it's called tea because you never asked for dinner. Dinner was a posh word. You went home for tea. And sometimes that would be a jam sandwich. Sometimes that could be fish and chips, steak and kidney pie, but you had your tea and back in those days um you just you you just you got what your mom served you, right? You never questioned that. Is that not traditionally at 4:00? No, I

think you're thinking of the sort of tea the afternoon tea. That's different. That's what I thought it was. Okay. So, yeah, te's dinner. Well, so you hear like a guy coming back, especially, you know, 50 60 years ago, a guy come back from, you know, when they used to have the coal mines and that's all gone now. They'd come back and he say, you know, would he come back back go home to have his tea, right, Gordon? Is that sort of That's exactly that. Going home for tea. Um, does the United States, in your opinion, have elevated cuisine at all? I mean, like Oh my god, definitely.

Absolutely. Definitely, without doubt. Um, okay. I mean, you have to you almost have to go to the cities, like the big cities to get it, right? Yeah. I think the biggest shock when I first came over here years ago was just the size of the breakfast. Yeah. And then on the side of the breakfast, you got a [ __ ] fruit salad on your breakfast as well, so it turns into like a mini dessert. That's not the way you want to start the day, right? Oh my god. They say it's the most important meal of the day, but it should be your lightest meal of the day and then you build up to that. So, but chefs are notorious for sort of eating because we graze. So, everyone says, "You're not eating, you're not hungry." No, we've just grown up grazing because if you don't taste everything before it goes out, then how do you perfect that level of utter beautiful, stunning food? So, we have small spoons. And so, I can't go

out and eat. I think Will, last time you saw me like, you just picking, you're not eating properly. Do you have an eating disorder? I'm like, no, we just can't eat starter apps main design. Yeah, you did it. That's exactly right. You didn't you didn't go through the whole thing. You just sort of little bits and pieces. Yeah, Gordon. I I work a bit in Atlanta and I'm always really surprised and Oh, here we go. Plug in Atlanta and excited about how great the restaurants are there. What's When's What's the last city that surprised you in the States with its with its cuisine?

Um, I'd say Austin. Austin, Texas. Oh, really? Powerful. Oh my goodness me. And I mean, I'm just talking about barbecue. Um, there's some incredible ethnic restaurants there and uh from Filipino to great Greek restaurants and uh Japanese uh Asian inspired. Yeah. Austin, Texas. What what what what other than other than naturally French like French cuisine which is sort of almost like the sort of the the the granddaddy of them all in a way. And other than going out for that, what is the what is your sort of guilty pleasure meal to go out for that you're like just go and have a Chinese or whatever? You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, you know, I spent three years training in France.

That's two years in Paris and a year down the south of France. And I absolutely adore France. It's just the French I can't [ __ ] stand. So, don't worry, they're not listening. Do you speak French? I do. Yes, I do. Yes. Do you speak Italian, too, and and Spanish? Uh, yeah, but not fluent. The French is where it's at. And we still got Russians. Gordon, I had I had a French waiter one say to me, I said, "Uh, everybody else is ordering drinks." And I said, "I have a diet coke." And he goes, "Uh, American champagne." I was like, "Hey, [ __ ] you. [ __ ] you, dude."

They just have the most romantic ways of describing food. We have grilled cheese, cheese, and toast. They have [ __ ] hot misure. We have mashed potatoes. They have pompe. We have apple pie. They have data bomb. I know. But it is good. It is delicious. So, so other than other than French cuisine, what's your guilty pleas? What's your thing you're like, I'm going to go and have that? Oh, god. I'm I'm a big fan of Yeah. In-N-Out Burger. I love burgers, honestly. A great smash burger. I just love burgers. I I I absolutely adore burgers. Did that just start the smash burger? And And what what it is literally you just make the patty not fat and juicy. You make it thin and caramelized. Yeah. And they social media social media has popularized it for sure. Yeah. And the bun. The bun too, right? So it kind of becomes a little bit more sort of dense the sandwich because whenever I would go to a hotel and order it'd be gigantic

the burger and you couldn't even get your mouth in and then it was like a how you want to cook. Jesus Sean, your blood pressure is going up. Relax. Okay, they're going to fix the burger. But also you get a much better caramelization on that smash burger because you roll and then literally smash it immediately the minute it's being pressed onto that griddle. And then literally 90 seconds each side is caramelized. It's juicy. And you can do a double stack on that as well and really identify the flavor. I mean, what's the dish you think that what what dish are you most proud of? What dish do you think you make them because you make so many what what dish you think you make really well? And it could be as simple as as an omelette. What's the thing that you do really well? You in your in your opinion? There's there's two things. Um when we took over at Clarities back in 2004, I sort of re reintroduced the Philip Beef Wellington,

which is a showstopper and and that's that's like your perfect sort of That's like beef in a in a pastry, right? Yeah. I love it. I don't think I've ever had it. I don't think I've ever had it. I'll send you delicious. And then um second is scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs for me. I knew it. So important. And because anything rubber, anything overcooked, undercooked. There's nothing worse, honestly. And then every time I see chefs put [ __ ] eggs in a microwave, I scream. I just Some of the some of the best scrambled eggs I ever had in my life was at the Hotel George sunk in.

Oh, there you go. Amazing. Put a little cream in it, right? Well, I asked the guy. I said, "How do you get them so soft and creamy?" And I don't know if he's joking with me. Go [ __ ] yourself [ __ ] yourself. Yeah. With just a dash of go [ __ ] with all these questions. Stupid American. Shut up. You like to know the magic in in French? It's fat fut. Yeah. Fat foot. Yes. [ __ ] yourself. You go [ __ ] yourself. Wait. But so I I don't know if he was joking or he said uh American cheese, right? And I'm like, "No, that can't be." I come Wait. I come home.

Listen to this. I come home, I make scrambled eggs, soft scrambled eggs, really slow and I put craft singles in them. It's incredible. Let me tell you. Let me tell you. I'm going to make it for you. It's Gordon just punched a hole in the wall by somebody. Sweet and creamy. Somebody once put a little cottage cheese in scrambled eggs. Um, and and it was it was pretty good. No, no, no. And the secret behind any great scrambled egg is stopping the cooking because if you don't stop the cooking, they'll just overcook and turn into rubber. It's a teaspoon of creme fresh or a little tablespoon of cream and that just slows the process down. Sean, he was [ __ ] with you. He just wanted to keep you in America. He wanted you to go home and stay home. You know, you know what? The one thing I do like here's my guilty pleasure eggs. I will say this.

My guilty pleasure eggs in Southern California especially in in is um and eggs with a little cheese that I love. Fantastic. And and corn beef ash. Yeah, there you go. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's the nice thing about eggs. That's the simplicity behind eggs. And it's something I taught all the kids, you know, our kids to make, you know, from the ages of six. Great scrambled eggs. And is it true that the cholesterol in eggs has been dispelled? They they're fine for you is what I hear. Or what? Yeah, it's the it's the balance, isn't it? I mean, you don't eat that every day. And so, we'll do scrambled eggs maybe at the weekend, Saturday or Sunday.

Okay. We'll be right back. All right. Back to the show. Wait, but go back to your kids because you have six kids. Good for you, right? Oh, I'm jealous. Six children and and I read that you missed the births of your first four kids on purpose. Is that right? Well, hold on. You're going to get me into [ __ ] here. Let's make one thing absolutely clear. Okay. I know, but my wife didn't want me in there. She said, first of all, I want my mom and your mom in here. You're not going to [ __ ] see me in that state. Okay. That side of the curtain. Get out of there. Okay. Okay. So, that was her decision. I had to respect that decision. And then when I did finally arrive in the theater for our fifth baby, I [ __ ] collapsed like a wimp and I I blacked out holding Oscar in the air. Yes. I was so [ __ ] Holding the baby. But the um they they said, "What do you want to listen to?" And it was it was coming through the sunroof. And so

there's a lot of commotions going on. It was a C-section. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I've been there. Did you call that the sunroof? Yeah. I've been through all three all three of my sons. I said, "Oh, can you play Ed Sheeran?" So they started playing Ed, but can you turn up the volume? I can hear all these noises. Turn the volume. And all of a sudden, I saw two more doctors dive in. I looked on the floor and there was blood everywhere. And all of a sudden, God, they popped him out and then they came straight over to me. I Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[ __ ] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sat back and then I clapped like a [ __ ] idiot. My second son, my second son, they came through on the radio, you could just hear very low, young be I know. Me, too. It was so so bizarre. So bizarre. And And then Gordon, how do you Forgive me for asking, but I think it's incredible. You have all of these business ventures. You go, you just go go go. The drive, the ambition, the success. How do you What is your rules of balancing all of the family life and the work life? Yeah, that's a great question. So, balance is critical. Um, we got the right kind of support. Every time we were filming uh throughout the US, the kids would come with us and then we would take them out of school two weeks early, put them back two weeks late, so we'll do their sort of filming schedules around the school schedules. Um it's a lot easier now. We had four amazing kids and then Tana and

I had this crazy idea to go back for more. Um and so there's quite a big gap. Uh Megan, she's our eldest. She's 26. She's a an incredible police officer back in London. Wow. Then we have the twins at 25. Jack's a Royal Marine Commando. Holly's into a fashion. And then there's Matilda who's 23, who's literally just come back from culinary school, would you believe in a beautiful school called Bali Malo. Um I am a little bit miffed the fact that she didn't ask me to train her and she's gone off elsewhere. She go back to the fold. Yeah, she's seen the shows. That's the problem. So it sounds like you made all your Did all your kids have uh did they all work sort of as they were growing up and have jobs and do things and have direction? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And you and you never flew you always make them fly coach or something or like you 100% and I tried to explain to them what they could do with the money when they land because we're all getting on and getting off together. So understand the difference. And secondly, no disrespect, an 8-year-old or a 10-year-old, they don't need [ __ ] business class or first class or even as a teenager, they shouldn't be used to that kind of exposure, right? So you get up, you'll you'll walk a bread a bread roll from first class back to them. A bread roll.

Oh, the bread's so hot up front. Here's here's a couple. I'll be right back. I'll be back in about an hour to check on you. Yeah, back to I said turn [ __ ] right and do not disturb us for the next 12 hours. Okay. No, you're really you're doing them a service though. They're really you're because otherwise you're depriving your kids of of learning how to live life and how to do things if you don't if you don't provide that for them, I think. Yeah. And also removing their hunger, right? And so it's not about excelling at school with a stars and you know uh A's everywhere. is about creating uh individuals. Well, give them a direction of something that they want to do, right? And values will give them the values. Install those values and they got to they can't depend on the mom and dad. I'm not perfect at it. I'm not suggesting that I am, but I'm sure, you know, cuz I got nets on the other line.

They want to talk to you about your parent next week. No, but I made you know, look, look, you've got you've got your daughter, you got her into directing and she came and worked on your show and you got her sort of into the thing and give them an address. I got my kids are working this summer. They're teenagers. They've got just give them a start and then see what they do with it. Exactly. Yeah. I want them to have an idea of what it takes to make their own living and take care of themselves. I work at a furniture shop.

We don't care. How's that mic still on? [ __ ] is unreal. Gordon's here and he's talking about his family. You're trying to speak. Let the He's our guest. I didn't know what I was doing. Gordon, what do you how do you feel? what you know so you the restaurant business you know you love you killed it and then you get into the television business you know it you love it you're killing it can is there is there a similarity between the two is there is there an appeal that that that is shared with both or do you love one over the other or how does that all fit in yeah that's a good question I mean I I think it's the um level of creativity I think that I enjoy most about the TV I hate it when shows are canceled so I'm always a firm believer in taking your own show down first before you you know get cancelled. And so, uh, there's nothing worse when something gets cancelled. So, [ __ ] it. I'll come up

with a better idea so you don't take me down and we'll replace it with that. Um, also, I think not standing still. I think that's one thing growing up watching mom handle three jobs even on Christmas day. We wouldn't see her till 5:00 p.m. in the afternoon cuz I knew she was coming in from the night shift working in a hospital. So, you grow up with that work ethic. And I mentioned it earlier, you know, not just the fear of not having it there one day, but just the value you have where you are and how how long it's taken to master your craft. And that crossover into the TV world is is is is it's sort of handed love because it's it's real, okay? The shows are real. I take it serious. It's not about light, camera, action. I'm not a big fan of the shiny floor stuff. I love the raw stuff if I'm honest. Oh, Rob is mad at you for saying that.

He's always mad at me. He loves the shiny floor. I know. No, but but even when we are on the shiny floor, I want to keep it real. Okay. I want to keep it really real. So, Right. Right. Are you able to just to stop and enjoy the the fruits of your labor and all the success? I mean, cuz every time we talk about your shows and your work, you just you love what you do and you go go like you said, you just go go. Are you able to just stop and go, "Wow, look at this." and and actually vacation and like, you know, calm down for a bit. Pat yourself on the back. Uh yeah, I'm not very good at patting myself on the back if I'm honest. What I do when I'm off, I'm off. Um every 6 months there's a either an Iron Man or a marathon. And so there's this sort of date that I build up to. My next Iron Man is coming. Uh it's an Iron Man. It's iron. Oh god, it got it. And so my wife competes as well. She loves it. We spend

a lot of time together swimming, cycling, and running. And so we have that nice little balance. Do you have a first gear? Is is do you ever shift down? No, but I mean a lot of people are scared of that level of exercise. For me, it's it's a way of relaxing. I know it sounds crazy, but it is a way. So is that what is that what keeps you? Is it fear? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just fear of exercising. I might start sweating. Fear of I don't want to sweat. What's what's what's your what's your what's your strongest uh sport or what's your what's your weakest? Is it the the swim and the bike are strong? No, everyone stresses out over the swim. And then to be honest, everyone overworks that swim to shave 2 minutes off their time which is crazy. I remember sitting in the deep water start in Hawaii for Kona Iron Man and um there's two and a half thousand athletes. We had to swim out 200 meters and then weighed you know tread water

for 10 minutes before the cannon went off at half 5 in the morning. I thought, "My god, this is the most beautiful moment of my life." And then the visibility was 30 m. The swim was 3.8K. No wet suits cuz there's a lot of salt in that water, so you're naturally buoyant. And I put my goggles on and I'm looking underneath like, "Fuck, it's like being alive, finding Nemo down here. The fish were everywhere. I started conjuring up ideas for dishes, etc." And then I got out of the swim super relaxed and then onto the bike because I do relax when I train cuz I just get into that rhythm and I de-stress and I offload and then I'm uncontactable. I think that's the most important part about you know shutting off. No one get hold of me. Everyone knows that. JB you like that you you have a meditative quality to your workouts too. Like you like to run for six miles and be kind of non-contable. I I do. Yeah. It it is it's just nice. I I

think just the discipline, right? And it's solitary. It's just you against your body, your will, your your your discipline. Um yeah, I I I do enjoy it. Hey, Gordon, you know, you mentioned your mom a couple of times. She sounds like she was a huge influence um on you. Is she still with us? Was she able to to see and appreciate your your success? Yeah, mom's 78. She's down in uh Taton, southwest of uh England. My first ambition after winning our third mission star was after selling our house to go and get that lease because the bank wouldn't back us. So that was the only tangible asset I had. After winning our third star, the first time we ever come into any money, I went and bought mom her first house. And so for her to have that in her 50s, something that she'd never grown up with was just one of the one of the most exciting moments of my life. We have so many similarities.

Sean, you did Sean Sean, you did the same thing. I I bought your dad a new set of tires, right? Cuz he really burned through those first ones getting the hell out of there. He's got a real flat spot on them. [ __ ] He ripped and he ripped the rear views off, too. Right. [ __ ] You go asleep. Oh my god. While the wheel was spinning, he ripped the rear viewer off, threw it out the window. I think he hit Shawn and Tracy both in the forehead with it. Then the tires tracked up and off he went. And we we haven't been closer since Wait, Gordon. But so many similarities.

We don't have to go into it, but my mom super hard workhorse like like I learned everything from her. Grew up really poor, five kids, dad was nowhere. Uh and similar I just have a lot of the same drive that you do and um it's just it's great to talk to you about all of that. It's It's I I get it. I get where it comes from. You You bought your mom a house. That would I bought my mom a house, too. You did this in my Yeah. It's It's the best gift you could ever give. By the way, I've told this story a million. I'll tell it later. It's a It's my mom. I did this big moment for her. I Where I moved her into a condo one?

Yeah. My mom has one eye, Gordon. She had had one eye. Yeah. And so she I moved into a condo and uh while I built her this big mansion for all of us to live in and she and I had that big movie that bus moment where I filled it, you know, with the furniture and the silver literally she just had to bring her toothbrush and she walks in and she was so shocked and so surprised. She was crying her eye out and she and she she literally touched the couch and she said, "Um, I don't know that I would have picked out that couch, but everything else is like that and that instead of like and that that All three of us have the same mom.

That's mothers. That's mothers. That's crazy. I remember when she came to Clarity for the first time and she was like the guest of honor for the opening party and they put her upstairs in the penthouse suite and um the butler came in and said, "Mrs. Ramsey, can I can I run your bath?" and she said, "Certainly not. I can run my own bath. Thank you very much." I'm like, "Oh my god." Honestly. And then I I flew over to LA and we got this beautiful house up in Ber Crest and um it it's it's beautiful. The views are stunning. It's a dream.

And she was looking after the kids while Tana and I went for a run, funny enough. I came back and I said, "You're okay?" She said, "Yeah, I'm just wondering. You're the neighbors." I said, "Uh, yeah. What's wrong with them?" She said, "No one's got their washing out." I said, "For [ __ ] sake, mom, no one hangs. They're washing out." Our neighbor for 10 years was Stevie Wonder who lived next door to us. And the sweetest guy, the sweetest guy. And and mom didn't even know it was Stevie. Stevie Wonder. And I'm like, "Mom, I had to sing the [ __ ] song. Oh, is that I'm like, for God's sake, I'll pop around and ask if you'd like a cup of tea." Said, "No, no, no, mom. You you you don't pop round to your neighbor's house. You can't do that in LA. The security will take you away. I love that. Um, no. So, so by the way, you have a new show coming all out which I'll completely watch called Gordon

Ramsey's Secret Service, right? When does that come out, by the way? Um, um, like May. Yeah, just when does it come out? Maybe it's already out. Secret Service. May 25th. [ __ ] So, I should know that Rob's going to kill me. Okay, so it's already out by the time this comes. Yeah, by the time this comes, it's already out. Why do you think this is the one of the dumbest questions, but I can't get enough of food shows? And why do you what is the huge appeal? What is it that taps into people that are obsess Why is why is everybody obsessed with watching how food gets made? It's something we do three times a day, 7 days a week at breakfast and we eat food. Why would you want to watch somebody do it? Like I I I think to make yourself feel better and everyone wants to be better at it. Exactly that. So I I I think you know there's so much to learn about food. There's so much enjoyment to to cooking and it's

emotional and so those emotions as you know run high and Secret Service is everything I've learned over the last 20 years working in the US from talented producers to great uh creators is is in this show. Yeah. Yeah. I can't wait to see it. It looks so good. I can't cook. Can Can you guys cook at all? No, I can't even boil wine. I can make sloppy joe's. That's it. But but is it a fair will? Is it something that you is it intimidating? No. It's one of those things every once in a while out of the blue it'll occur to me like I should learn how to cook and then it goes out of my head and I don't think about it again and I don't know what it is. I No, Sean. Um, no. It's just it's it's like I'm I I'm not interested. I I'm you know I'll get like in the winter I'll get into baking and I'll bring these guys like over stuff like that I make a lot of the times and like and then and then once I get into the rhythm of like

making cheesecakes and cookies and whatever it is I'm like oh it kind of I kind of I kind of see it but it's the mess and then the cleaning up. That's the thing that keeps me away from is the ratio between the the the the prep, the cook, um the cleanup versus the eating and the enjoyment. It's such a small wedge of, you know, is the eating. I almost don't want to eat it after I make it. I know. It's just so much time to clean it up and to prep it. I I should get into that. And I also love the fact that there's a there's a road map like a recipe book. You can just like it's literally tells you step by step what you need to do to get what that looks great and it's going to taste great and you just it's dummy proof. But the fulfillment is immense. Okay. when you when you get over those bumps and you see that thing on the plate, it's like with with your kids or Yeah. But I will say that the I the thing I do

understand about what you do is when you do make something great and you serve it and somebody says that's the best blank or whatever I've ever had. There is like a ego boost that you're like, "Oh, I did that." Like that's, you know, it's a great payoff. But you can be taught, okay, all this [ __ ] about you have to be bought into it. Do you do you have an educated palette and you know, do you have to be natural? Absolute [ __ ] How do I go from a Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And so I'm I'm a little bit different to a lot of chefs. I teach my chefs to taste first before we learn to cook because if you don't understand how it tastes perfectly, you shouldn't be cooking it. And too many chefs don't taste their food. And so we go through a little sort of series of blind taste tests where we'll have five, seven, nine, 11 items on the plate and they cannot get to cook those items unless they understand the taste. So blindfold

on. Yeah. teaspoon at a time and describe the taste, describe the texture, describe the perfect I love that, you know, flavor. Do you hate doing the washing up? That's the other thing. Um, yeah. I mean, the kids always complain that I never do the washing up. I said, "Come on, guys. You want me to cook and wash up? Jeez." Um, growing up around mom, there was no such thing as dishwashers back then. You just got in and uh dug deep and and and washed up. But, um, I am a very smart and tidy worker. I don't make a mess. And so, of course, I sort of clean down everywhere I go. a bit of OCD going on. So, yeah, the kids are good at cleaning. All right, a couple a couple rapid fires here because I I know we got to let you go. Uh, you love you're a car fanatic.

What car do you drive? What car do you wish you had? U, depends where I am and depends who I'm with. Um, majority of the cars we have are all uh in this incredible hanger that we've just built. I'm embarrassed about the collection. I've been collecting for over 20 years and um the only way I I I really get to understand these cars is on the track. So three or four times a year we'll rent a track out. Wow. Um truck them down there. I bring in mates from Silverston and Thruxton are two big tracks. Thruxton is the biggest track in the UK.

And what's your favorite one to drive? Oh, it's like saying who's the favorite kid? Um I would say I still love that little Sublier Aston Martin DB4 or the uh Ferrari SP3 Monza. Extraordinary piece of kit. Good. How many cars do you think you got? Um I think it's about 94. Jeez, 94 cars. Good for you, Gord. That is really cool. That's really cool. I love that. Um, so you hate pineapple on pizza. I do, too. What is the other [ __ ] that you that you can't What's another thing that you absolutely cannot stand combined? [ __ ] cold foams, man. When I see foam on foam, when when chefs start ariating stuff and putting foam on a plate, that's for your [ __ ] chin.

Shave with foam. Don't [ __ ] eat it. And and and and that disgusting sticky inepid balsamic glaze. I love I'm with you. Yeah. I don't like it either. It's too sticky. I hate that [ __ ] And one and I think you already answered this, but the one food that you if you had to live with one dish for the rest of your life, I think you it would be a hamburger. Probably it'd be a hamburger all day long. Hamburg. Same. Wow. Smash burger. Smash burger with cheese. Uh no. Oh, no. No, no, no. Just a beautiful smash burger. Don't don't deter from the flavor of that be lettuce and tomato.

No, no, no. Just the burger and the bread. And there you go. Are you serious? Nice. Really? Everyone puts lettuce and tomato. No. They put lettuce and tomato on there to make you feel [ __ ] better as if it's healthy. Right. There's your salad. We become We become accusto I I like I like yellow mustard. I've become a big proponent in the last 5 years of old school plain yellow mustard. The best. It's so good. It's the best. In New York, they don't sell it. You can't find it anywhere. Everywhere. No, cuz everything's Dijon or some sort of version of like spicy whatever. Yeah. Anyways, talk about spicy. It's an honor to meet you. I've been such a fan for so long and I really have watched every episode and I was just in the UK a couple months ago for a stretch and I found and I never knew it exist. Uh, Kitchen Nightmares. It was Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares before you came here to do it and I was like, "Oh

my god, it was a channel that had it on 24/7." I watched every episode of that. I just I'm just uh I love it. I love you. I just love everything you do. So, I thank you for being on. Um congrats on Smartless, by the way. Um it's my one one two go-to uh every week when we download. And uh yeah, thank you guys. It's an honor to have you. Thanks, man. So good to see you. Thank you so much. Cheers, guys. Thank you guys. Thanks, Sean. Thanks, Will. Byebye. Bye, guys. Thank you, Jason. Bye. Bye. Bye, buddy. He barely thanked you at the end there, JB. Did you hear that? Like the last he was like, "Oh, yeah. Thanks, Jason.

Couldn't remember the name. No, it's hard. It's a tough one. So, cuz he was going to say Justin like everybody else, right? He was going to say, "Thanks, Justin." I got I got one the other day. It had been a while. I'm so bummed because I I I'm such a I'm really watch everything he does. And I was so excited to bring him on and surprise you guys. And there's like You're like, "Oh, hey, hey, Gordon. What's going on?" I was like, "I didn't know you Jason and I saw him recently." Oh, sorry. We're not like some crazy super cooking show fans freak.

I've never seen one of his shows, but I uh I I will now. And I do enjoy a cooking show, but I have not seen one. I know. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. And he's he's uh Well, I mean, like, who's like he he's So, I walked through the airport the other day and I saw this restaurant called Plain Food. Mhm. P L A N E. I was like, "Oh, that's clever." It's Gordon Ramsey. Yeah. There you go. In a in an airport. He's got an airport of all places. Got a restaurant. I mean, he's Yeah, he's doing very well. You got to do well to buy 93 cars. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. It's insane. 93. Did he say 90 94? I think he said 94. Yeah. 94. He just bought one bought another one. Golly. Good for him. You know. I know. I know. Yeah. He's great. I love him. I I'd love to go to his uh where did he say it was in Chelsea. Chelsea. Let's go. Let's go. You know what? Let's go see Shaunie's play. Yeah. And we'll go for dinner there. Let's do that. And then what about when you're in England doing it? Yeah. No, it's Chelsea in in London, I think, isn't it? Oh. Oh, great. Okay. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's Yeah, it's Let's do that. And we'll get And how Bradley's been there. Yeah.

Okay. How about that? End of story. Yeah. I mean, just like that. He's held out on us. We didn't know that. I didn't know that he'd been to this three star three Michelin star, right? We'll go to the restaurant. Yeah. We'll we'll sit down. We'll have him for a while. It's rare that he does a buildup. So, let him I know. I'm like letting him. We'll uh we'll sit down and we'll just have a nice quick buy. Bye. Bye. That was good. Really good. Yeah. Smart bless. Smart less. Smartless is 100% organic and artisally handcrafted by Rob Armjarf, Bennett Barbco, and Michael Grant Terry. Smart less.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "Gordon Ramsay | SmartLess"?

In order: 0:00 Queen and Beaver, Toronto, Angelina Diana, Gordon Ramsay; 10:00 Michelin, Gastro pub, Chelsea, Michelin Star; 20:00 Stevie Wonder; 30:00 Scrambled eggs, Smash burger, Atlanta, Beef Wellington; 40:00 Ed Sheeran, London, Scrambled eggs; 50:00 Balsamic glaze, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, SmartLess, Smash burger; 1:00:00 Chelsea, London, Michelin, Michelin Star.

What is mentioned in this SmartLess episode?

56 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Michelin, Toronto, Queen and Beaver, Stevie Wonder, Smash burger, Scrambled eggs. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Gordon Ramsay | SmartLess"?

The episode runs 1 h 3 min; the transcript is about 13,260 words in 89 timestamped sections.

More from SmartLess

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated November 19, 2025.