The Plonker Club

A few more details for Gordon Ramsay’s new US show Masterchef have now been nailed down.

Apparently the show will air on a Thursday and will be piggybacking Hell’s Kitchen for part of it’s season (I can see the headlines now – stay in for Gordon Ramsay night on Fox) July 29 is the magic date, but it seems it will only air once per week (the Australian version on which it was based aired five days a week (from memory)).

Guest judges are Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot Bowles. (click on their individual names for wikipedia links – I have no idea who they are!)

Just a reminder Hell’s Kitchen starts June 10!

We have a countdown timer in the left hand column for Masterchef and Hell’s Kitchen Season 8.

Chief Plonker
The Plonker Club
The Unofficial Gordon Ramsay Fansite
www.theplonkerclub.com

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All Gordon Ramsay – All the time – News for Feb 10

Hopefully the links are sorted, so click on the article’s title to get the full story!

Lets kick it off with the Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite Tour of Canada and the US.

Gordon Ramsay Hitting Up Toronto – andPOP – Toronto,Ontario,Canada
(andPOP) – Hell’s favorite chef, Gordon Ramsay, is set to make a pit stop in Toronto next weekend. According to E! News, the celebrity chef- known for his …
Quote – According to E! News, the celebrity chef- known for his popular programs of Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, and the F-word- will be doing a publicity circuit in support of his latest book ‘Healthy Appetite’.

Gordon Ramsay titillates Toronto – Toronto Life – Toronto,Ontario,Canada
If Gordon Ramsay is in Toronto, who is making culinary train wrecks cry on reality television? The famed British restaurateur—known as much for his Michelin …
Top Quote – Ramsay’s previous interviews with Toronto’s own George Stroumboulopoulos cooked up much amusement—it turns out that Ramsay’s loose-tongued manner is not an act. He talks straight (and sometimes dirty) on his own eating habits, troubled boyhood and celebrity status. Perhaps this time, he will let loose on being cast as a Christian role model.

Here’s a heads up for people who buy Foodie magazines and may get sucked into this one because the name Gordon Ramsay appears on the cover!
The Food Magazine- Well Fed Network – USA
The story teasers on the front read like a who’s who of the culinary world: Mario Batali, Gordon Ramsay, Ina Garten, Nigella Lawson. … After reading through the whole issue, most of the recipes are reprints from coobooks. Gordon Ramsay’s “Healthy Appetite,” Nigella Lawson’s “Nigella Express: Good Food Fast,” and Ina Garten’s “Back to Basics.” There’s very little original recipe development in this publication. I don’t mean that as a criticism, necessarily; if you were considering one of these books for your collection, this magazine would give you access to a couple of recipes you could try for yourself, and then make your decision.

This is a bit of a nothing article – more just a survey, but the links another have a good rundown of previous Hell’s Kitchen episodes featuring our favourite Chef Gordon Ramsay!
Have You Ever Shucked a Scallop? - YumSugar.com – San Francisco,CA,USA
On last Thursday’s episode of Hell’s Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay showed the chefs how to shuck scallops. I found the brief lesson to be incredibly informative, …

A detailed article about the impact of the financial crisis on top chefs like Gordon Ramsay and lesser locations too!
Munch crunch: Britain’s restaurant crisis
Independent – London,England,UK
Martin Hickman and Tim Walker report on a simmering kitchen nightmare GORDON RAMSAY: The chef’s global restaurant chain has a reported overdraft of £10.5m. …
Top Quote – Last month alone, more than 100 British restaurants went out of business. But it’s not just the Michelin brigade who are in hot water. Martin Hickman and Tim Walker report on a simmering kitchen nightmare

Interesting commentary from a new Gordon Ramsay Employee on the New Season of Hell’s Kitchen – last years winner Christina
Hell’s Kitchen’ Insider: “Chef Ramsay Loves a Fighter” – BuddyTV – Seattle,WA,USA
For those living in LA, it is restaurant week, and we have been busier than ever at The Gordon Ramsay. I was once asked, “Why would you want to work fifteen …
Top Quote – I cannot tell you how many sizzle reels there are of me falling from last season. In one clip, we were racing against the boys to complete a dinner service. I was bringing the last dessert order to the pass, and felt myself going down. I looked at the two items in my hand, a souffle and a creme brulee, and decided to save the souffle, as it took 20 minutes just to bake. The floor is treacherous. It is not like a real kitchen. It is more like industrial linoleum, where any water or food scrap is a potential hazard. You learn this as you advance in Hell’s Kitchen, and try to work around it. It just angers me that such a stupid accident took out one of this season’s strongest competitors so far.

This is Getting F$%king Old and F%@king Boring
Ramsay under investigation after breaking record for swearing – Britain News – London,London,UK
London, Feb 9 : British chef Gordon Ramsay has come under the scrutiny of the broadcasting watchdog Ofcom, after he broke the world record for swearing on …

David Driscoll
The Plonker Club
The Unofficial Gordon Ramsay Fansite
www.theplonkerclub.com

The internet has been awash with stories about Gordon Ramsay being banned from Mario Batali’s restaurants and a host of other claims, in a recent interview Gordon Ramsay addresses these claims directly!

The Question was asked of Gordon Ramsay “What about the reported feud with Mario Batali. Has he really banned you from all of his restaurants?”

Chef Gordon Ramsay responded in the following manner: “It’s really sad, I’ve never met Mario Batali. Obviously the man’s a very talented chef. There was a statement last year about me cooking 1980s dated food.

Well, I’m really sorry, I had dinner with Bill Berfus from The New Yorker and for an interview a couple of years ago and the food was embarrassing. So, Bill got upset and sent the food back, it was sea bass, because it was off.

So, I wouldn’t send any chef an off sea bass, but today I respect him, he’s an amazing chef, but as far as I’m concerned I haven’t been banned from his restaurants. But listen, at the end of the day we’re all in this looking for the same customer. So, Christ, if we can’t get on, what’s the big deal? But I don’t have any problem with Mario Batali.”

This was part of a larger interview which can be found at http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/features/article_1456611.php/Hells_Kitchens_Gordon_Ramsay_the_full_interview

David Driscoll
Chief Plonbker at The Plonker Club
The Unofficial Gordon Ramsay Fansite
www.theplonkerclub.com

It seems that all of the information about Gordon Ramsay on Hell’s Kitchen, his new cooking shows and a host of other dirt, has come from a single recent interview.

The interview comes from monsters and critics dot com and apparently featured a host of interviewers on a conference called posting questions.

The interview was criticised by one paper in particular for not asking the tough questions (about infidelity and his restaurants closing – but we all know, that caller would have been removed from the call and interviewers were probably warned before the event on what was and what was not appropriate).

The interview posed a few dull questions such as who would you like top prepare a meal for you (the answrs if you are interested include John George, Thomas Keller and a young California chef in Santa Monica called Melisse and why beef wellington has been pulled from the Hell’s Kitchen menu.

Here is a sample of my favourite quotes form the interview.

Gordon Ramsay on the Calibre of this years Hell’s Kitchen contestants:
I have to be honest, season five for me is: a) the most competitive; b) I will stick my neck out on this one and the top four contestants this year could have quite easily won in any of the previous years.

Gordon Ramsay on the elimination process in Hell’s Kitchen:
And I go through that shit fight for the first six or seven weeks and then I get rid of the sort of donkeys and I focus on the talent.

Gordon Ramsay on the Cookalong Live show in the US and the impossible limitation placed on him:
The live cook along, yes, it has been picked up and it’s going to be a huge excitement. I can’t wait to go live….. No cursing, that’s the deal. So I’m fucked.

Gordon Ramsay on the alleged feud between him and Mario Batali.
I’ve never met Mario Batali. Obviously the man’s a very talented chef…. but today I respect him, he’s an amazing chef, but as far as I’m concerned I haven’t been banned from his restaurants.

Gordon Ramsay comparing Hell’s Kitchen to Top Chef
It’s really funny, because there’s always, I get told by …I had one that didn’t get Hell’s Kitchen and ended up on Top Chef. So there’s obviously a huge competitive streak there.
Where I find my frustration with Top Chef is a challenge is a challenge. I put my contestants, my chefs under real scrutiny, that they’re running a restaurant because I’m giving the restaurant away. So the jeopardy is not because they’re a lot more important, but I put them through the paces and understand that it’s more of an entrepreneurial skill as well, not just dealing with the kitchen, the management, the delegations, the level of professionalism, but the overall aspect of it.

Gordon Ramsay on the credit crunch
So we’ve seen a downturn globally in terms of the recession, so everyone’s tightening their belts and even I’m tightening my belt.

Gordon Ramsay answering if he is still a chef:

Gordon Ramsay talking about his own Kitchen Nightmares
I had a situation in my own restaurant last week in New York where one of the line cooks got upset when he overcooked the New York Strip and his response was, he just put his head down. I said, “Listen, your response stinks. You’re standing there like a petulant teenager.
You’re 29 years of age. You earn $70,000 a year and you’re talking to me like you’re a baby. Get a grip.

If you want to see the full interview – go to http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/features/article_1456611.php/Hells_Kitchens_Gordon_Ramsay_the_full_interview

David Driscoll
The Plonker Club
The Unofficial Gordon Ramsay Fansite
www.theplonkerclub.com