TV chef Gordon Ramsay has always been a bit of a Marmite character. As charming and hilarious as he can be, sometimes his foul-mouthed rants can seriously rub people up the wrong way.
Right now Ramsay is on a mission with his new ITV show - Gordon Ramsay on Cocaine (which may possibly be a slightly misleading title) - where he investigates the restaurant industry's 'dirty little secret': a cocaine problem, for both customers and chefs. Not exactly Ross Kemp on Gangs , but we'll take it.
However, Ramsay's coke crusade seems to have attracted the ire of a top chef, who has told him to 'fuck off' and 'try doing something positive' instead of criticising his fellow chefs.
In a widely shared Facebook post, Neil Rankin accused Ramsay of 'glorifying kitchen abuse', saying that if he is worried about his staff abusing cocaine, he "might want to look at their rotas and give them a good night's sleep." Can't see where he got that idea.
This was after Rankin suggested that Ramsay 'might want to look at [his] menus' if coke-addled customers aren't eating his food - a bold attack on a man who is a Michelin-starred chef.
"It's employers like you that made this industry unappealing and held it back for decades and created the long hours that only add to the drug problems," said Rankin, who has previously worked with Jamie Oliver and launched the meat-loving restaurant Temper.
"Things are looking up for chefs," Rankin added. "We're trying to treat them like adults, partners and employees for the first time in decades and give them a future beyond burning out at 30."
Rankin, who has also worked as a chef in fine-dining restaurants under Michael Wignall and Gary Rhodes, urged Ramsay to 'try getting on board' with his industry colleagues rather than 'promoting this snipey out-of-date bullshit'.
He concluded his post by admitting that Ramsay was a 'great chef' but a 'terrible fucking ambassador' for the restaurant industry.
Rankin's Facebook post appears to be a popular opinion, with the post receiving more than 2,000 likes and many chefs, industry heads and customers showing their support to Rankin in the comments.
The trade magazine Big Hospitality has since followed up Rankin's post by publishing an interview with him, in which he defended his comments.
This spat seems like it could be tastier than any normal beef and even reach the level of filet mignon. Guess we better eat it while it's warm.
Advert
Words: Chris Ogden
Topics: Food, TV and Film, News, Chef, Gordon Ramsay, Cocaine, Facebook