upholding three-Michelin-star standards. How do you deal with that kind of responsibility?
I’ve been moving into the position gradually and taking on more and more responsibility as I’ve gone along so you’re always moving on and always advancing. Most of all it’s something I’m very proud of and proud to be a part of. I put my heart, my soul and my life into this restaurant. I’ll do anything: come in early; stay late; come in on a day off – that’s the passion that’s conveyed through everything we do here. Everyone is willing to go that extra mile to provide the service we give our customers.
You dreamed about working in a grand European restaurant with years of history behind it; now of course you’re in one, both as Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and in its previous incarnation as La Tante Claire; how does that feel?
It’s amazing to be here and think about all that history; all the great chefs that have stood at the stove over the years. It’s not the exact same stove of course but it’s modelled around the original and the sections are all in the same positions as in Pierre Koffmann’s original kitchen. When I first came here there was a Le Creuset pot that was very well-used that we used to blow-torch peppers on. I don’t know if it’s true or not but everyone says that was Pierre Koffman’s Le Creuset pot.
You’ve come up through the ranks of the Ramsay organisation; is good training something you are keen to pass on to the chefs working under you?
When guys come in here we teach them the correct way to work and our philosophies here, whether that’s simply how to cut through an onion; where to put your rubbish or just how to work neatly and cleanly. At the end of the day it’s about putting time into someone but they also have to want to give that time back. We’ve had some guys in here who struggled a bit at first but with a bit of TLC and a bit of investment of time and their own willingness to learn, they’ve turned out to be brilliant, very talented, very motivated chefs.
We’ve got a young 21-year-old lad at the moment who cooks the meat; he found it difficult at first because he’d never managed people and run a section before but he’s come on massively and taken on a massive responsibility.
Do you see yourself opening your own place in the future?
I’d love to run my own restaurant maybe in two or three years’ time, that’s the dream for me; whether it’s over here or whether it’s in Australia I haven’t really decided yet. It’s about finding myself as a chef and building my confidence all the time, knowing that what I do is always to a high level. One day I hope that I can do great things and teach everything I’ve learned to a new generation of chefs.
