Is Gordon Ramsay's Restaurant Empire In Trouble?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jan 25th 2009 at 8:05PM

Fiery chef Gordon Ramsay may have expanded too quickly for his own good. In addition to having books, television shows and appearances, Ramsay also has a global restaurant empire to manage. But The Mirror reports that bookings at his restaurants are down and some are saying he's been spending too much time in the spotlight and not enough in the kitchen. A former manager says that Ramsay's is too overextended to keep a close eye on his properties.

It has been claimed that a £10million loan to Gordon Ramsay Holdings is being called in by the troubled Royal Bank of Scotland and Ramsay may have to use some of his own money to prop up the company.

The Mirror called some of Ramsay's restaurants and found that you could book a same day table at them, a bad sign for considering Ramsay reservations were once some of the hardest tables to get. A spokesman for Gordon Ramsay Holdings says all is well and that customers can often get a table if they phone on the day because of last minute cancellations.

Tags: food, gordon ramsay, GordonRamsay, restaurant

Filed under: Dining

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

j corbin Feb 10th 2009 1:07PM

I went to dinner at Ramseys place in the London Hotel in New York. The 2 of us spent over $400 not including tip or tax. Gordon "the great chef" walked through the dinning room no less then 4 times, yet never said a damn word to any of the 25-30 people there eating. No Hello, no Screw You, no nothing. The food was okay not worth $400 and the lack of interest from Gordon added to a less then satisfying night. I would never go back and perhaps others with the same experience maybe part of the reason his restaurants are failing?

Jen Feb 10th 2009 1:07PM

Uh-huh, just like a while ago when they spewed big headlines of Donald Trump going bankrupt. This is business people! Get your noses out of the kitchen and let the man do what he does best. As for the comment that he was overextending himself - shut the hell up and let him decide how much he can and cannot handle. He is a freaking culinary god and you just need to step out of his way and let him work some magic.