New Heights: How James Goodyear shaped Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High

For James Goodyear, enjoying spectacular London views whilst at work and having mentorship from Gordon Ramsay make his job role “special”.

James works as executive head chef at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High, one of the latest projects in the hugely successful Gordon Ramsay empire.

Prior to joining the group in 2024, James’s previous jobs included being head chef at Michelin-starred Evelyn’s Table and HIDE in Mayfair.

High opened in 22 Bishopsgate in February of this year, taking its name from its location on the 60th floor of the building.

High sits alongside other Gordon ventures in the tower, including Lucky Cat and Bread Street Kitchen.

The restaurant itself offers an intimate chef’s table format, seating only 12 guests, taking menu inspirations from three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, also in London.

“It’s incredible energy working 60 floors up,” said James.

“It has its own problems, but we overcame them very quickly and we have the opportunity to have this fantastic view every single day.

“Sometimes you do forget about it. It just goes into our daily work. You'll be prepping your mushrooms, for example, then you just look up and catch a glimpse and it's ‘wow’, I didn't realise.

“But the thing that gets us, because we're quite used to it, when our guests arrive every single evening, they come in and there's that moment. They're taken aback just by the scale of it, the beauty that we see.

“It just makes you realise it's a very privileged position. We're very lucky to be here and we don't take that for granted.”

He added: “The space dictates what we do here.

“There are the logistical issues that we have being 60 floors up, but organisation is key.

“Every dish that we do has a thought process behind it. We are on show, so there's nowhere to hide here and there's a theatrical aspect to everything that we're serving and preparing here.

“It's a balancing act, and I think we're really starting to find our feet about how we go about it.”

Gordon ramsay influence

Sourcing plays a crucial role in shaping each dish.

The menu features ingredients such as Cornish sea bream, Dorset lobster and squab pigeons from France, as well as sharing style Parker House rolls, with grilled heather honey.

Despite Gordon’s hectic schedule, running restaurants across the world and engaging in various media commitments around his other projects, he has still been very much invested in building up Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High.

“Gordon is heavily involved in everything we do here,” said James.

“From the very get-go, he's been involved in creating the menu, the way we go about the design, the process.

“He has a touch on everything that we've done and produced here, which is fantastic.

“I'm very happy with the relationship I get with Gordon. He's an incredible chef, obviously, and it's really a mentor relationship that we have now.

“He has an amazing energy to him, and whenever he walks around the building, you can just feel his presence, feel his energy. And I think everyone thrives upon that.

“To see him first-hand is amazing - to have a chef with this amount of knowledge and experience, just to ask for advice, ask for ideas.

“The thing that gets me as well is he sees things from a different perspective. It's not just a normal chef that you're talking to. He will pose questions and ideas that you wouldn't have thought about, no-one would.

“It's like, where did this come from? His brain and the way he thinks is quite incredible. Every opportunity you get to spend time with him, there's so much we can take.

“Even when he's going about his daily press duties and interviews, the way he conducts himself, the way he has his finger on everything, the information he has and the way he shares and delegates that out is incredible to watch. I feel very lucky, very privileged to be able to work for him and alongside him.”

unique dining experience

James also credits the support of Matt Abé, formerly chef patron of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, before recently leaving to launch his own restaurant Bonheur, set to open later this year.

High is still in its relative infancy, but has already positioned itself as a unique dining opportunity in London.

And it is that uniqueness which James particularly enjoys about working at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High.

“We've been open since February, so just over six months now, and time's absolutely flown by,” said James.

“Overwhelmingly, it's just been an incredible experience. To be able to be in this setting every single day is quite special. To be working alongside Gordon, Matt Abé as well, to have this input and the trust from those two phenomenal chefs is quite awe-inspiring really, so we don't take that for granted.

“We love serving our guests. We have 12 guests every single night and our full focus is able to go on that.

“Just to have the ability to focus on that is an incredible opportunity for us.

“We want our guests to take away how much we care about what we're doing and how proud we are.

“Luckily, the feedback's been absolutely fantastic, and we continue to strive towards pleasing our guests like that every single day.”

He added: “What does success mean to me? Our guests come here with high expectations, and we aim to deliver that - not just meet their expectations, but go above and beyond.

“They're going to come here and they've got an amazing view, we know that already. But our goal is to outmatch that with our food, our service and our wine, our drinks menu, and that's what we do.

“As long as our guests feel like they've received that, that's what matters to us.”