Gordon Ramsay Loses Another Restaurant

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 31st 2010 at 6:03PM

More bad news for Gordon Ramsay, he's losing another restaurant. Bloomberg reports that the One & Only Cape Town hotel in South Africa has closed their Gordon Ramsay Maze restaurant. The restaurant opened with star-studded event last April that included Nelson Mandela. The restaurant is still open but doesn't have a new name.

There are no details on what happened. Bloomberg got only a basic email confirmation from the hotel and in an e-mailed statement Ramsay's company, Gordon Ramsay Holdings said that they were only informed of the decision to close Maze very recently. Meanwhile Ramsay has launched a third show in the U.S.: "Masterchef," a sort of American Idol for home cooks.

It seems that the Maze brand has taken some hits lately. Jason Atherton, who created the brand, quit Gordon Ramsay Holdings in April and his successor, James Durrant announced his resignation earlier this month. Maze Prague has already closed, leaving four outlets: London, New York, Doha and Melbourne.

Tags: gordon ramsay, maze restaurant, south africa

Filed under: Dining

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Roger Foster Jul 31st 2010 11:50PM

Not Suprising I hear his staff in Melbourne are jumping ship faster than rats on a sinking boat as it is all going wrong too

Edwin Smith Aug 3rd 2010 6:48AM

Who is their right mind would even waste the time to watch this idiot on TV. Beside his foul mout, manic depressive behavior, crude and rude style. When I am in the kitchen I enjoy myself, I don't want this fat mouthed and probably alcoholic telling me anything thank you . Cooking for many , including me is just a nice side hobby and the fruits of my labor are enjoyed by all. I don't need any damn deadline, insults and obnoxious attitude as what he is all about,

johnlecook Aug 3rd 2010 6:21PM

I was a Executive Chef & Restaurant owner for about 30 years. What he does on TV seems shocking to you and most because you don't understand professional kitchens. He has a short time to weed out, in my opinion mostly unqualified, personal and test them. What the the poor abused person win? A $250,000.00
a year job for a little in your face to see if you can handle it. Work the pressure of a real professional kitchen then comment on this. These people sign up for this to see if they can win this HIGH PROFILE job they would NEVER get in the real world. Its called hell's kitchen for a reason. His standards are high and he wants them to have the same standards. Thats why its called TV...

jim stretch Aug 3rd 2010 10:57AM

Pay backs are Hell.

what is needed here is in the not too distance future, you pull up to a Big Mac's to order and you hear Gordon Ramsay ask if you want fries with that.

not a nice person !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bill rozakis Aug 3rd 2010 10:54AM

Oh you guys are just soft. You couldnt keep up with Ramsey the best. Instead you whine, "oh he is too mean, oh he beats people." Your a bunch of whimps on the internet that do nothing, create nothing and have nothing you cowards. Go create something instead of running your weak mouths about someone that takes risks in business, pussies

rexrandall333 Aug 4th 2010 6:43PM

I personally have never watched his show when aired on television, a decision based on the behavior of Gordon Ramsey witnessed on unavoidable advertisments while watching tv shows I deemed to have much higher value of content. Not having any profesional cooking skills myself, I cannot say anything negative about his cooking skills. I do, however, as I am assuming most of those posting negative comments, have an issue with his offensive and most aggressive method of communicating while "teaching" and dealing with student chefs. While I personally try to avoid those type of folks or ignore them when the former isn't always possible, these people skills are not as easily displayed when some of the students are shown under his constant barage of temper tantrums. As far as refering to the other commentors as "cowards" and "pussies", I believe they, as well as I, are not afraid to "call-em like we see-em". Personally, I am aquainted with people who would snap the foul mouth chef's neck before he yelled his second sentence at someone....hmmm ...possibly a fitting "season finale" for the last segment of that particular reality show ?

steve taylor Aug 3rd 2010 6:14PM

His style is honest and truthfull. Thats whats wrong with most people. They want to collect a check and never should be there in the first place. Restaurants are supposed to be a symphony not a place for wanks collecting and giving lip service. Ramsey is right on the money. For heavans sake he has only a week to fix the dive and no time for bull. If you cant stand the little chile pepper then get out of the way for someone who will make a difference. Bah to the opposition who thinks is style is rough!

cristo4e Aug 4th 2010 3:18PM

The times I have watched this show it has been like a train wreck. All the beeping out the swear words and his tantrums might make good tv but as a pretty decent cook myself it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Sal Aug 4th 2010 3:20AM

I worked in many a kitchen and if the chef ever spoke to me the way he speaks to people he would have had a clever sticking out of his HEAD.

Sal Aug 4th 2010 3:24AM

You sound like your the pussy and the wimp and the coward if you would let ANY man speak to you that way. Like I said "CLEVER IN THE HEAD"

michella khan Aug 7th 2010 1:14PM

its, cleaver lol, CLEAVER

MARK Aug 7th 2010 11:13AM

I have a standard reply when someone starts telling how I should be running my Bar /Restaurants, I ask them to tell me what they do for a living, after telling me what they do ,I then tell them how much we have in common ,that I don't know anything about their business either

hey, tiger Aug 7th 2010 12:11PM

Gordon Ramsay is a study in Leadership style. I worked with a very talented, but abusive chef for 13 years. A kitchen run by this style of leadership will produce impressive results tableside, but at what cost? Intimidation, low-morale, and hight turnover. You need to rebuild your talent base constantly due to high stress & burnout. There are better ways to get the best out of your people. Respect, team-building, and an atmosphere of a common purpose is a much more difficult approach to master, but it yields far better results to your bottom line because your employees are inspired rather than threatened, and they stick around longer. Sure. there is still occasion to confront poor performers at times, but that is what walk-in refrigerators are for. Of course this approach doesn't make for good TV. I can't watch Hell's Kitchen, as I suffer from "Post-Culinary Stress Disorder."

hey, tiger Aug 7th 2010 12:24PM

Honest and truthful? Yes. Entertaining to watch? Well, maybe in a Jerry Springer sort of way. It's a bleeping restaurant for God Sakes, not mortal combat. Old-School Executive Chefs who use this approach are a vanishing breed. I have known many of them over my 30+year culinary career. Most have ultimately been dismissed for stepping over the line and violating HR policies that uphold the notion that employees have a right to be treated fairly, and with respect. You gotta learn to change your approach, or you become obsolete.

michella khan Aug 7th 2010 1:14PM

I personally like "Gordon Ramsey", being british myself, his language doesnt bother me, its indicative of down to earth brits, we are a blunt race and dont make no bones about how we feel, cant get ahead by pussy footing around people just to make them feel better...hes a wake up call, hes refreshing and he knows his business, yes there are failed restauraunts, but keep in mind, he isnt there to keep the staff in check...hello!

LFunchesC21 Aug 7th 2010 3:45PM

I watch a lot of cooking shows and I can understand the pressure of maintaining a top-notch kitchen and staff. I have worked at professions where the pressure to perfom up to certain standards is incredible. From experience I know that In the restaurant business you get one shot at getting it right; if you blow it the customer leaves and takes your reputation up or down according to his word-of-mouth report. Notwithstanding, there is no excuse for rude, crude, just plain boorish behavior and bad manners. There is no justification for regailing the public with sewer-mouth language; all that proves is that Ramsay cannot express himself in a normal manner. If he treat his key people in the same manner it is no wonder they are leaving in droves. Ramsay could learn a lot from a real chef like Wolfgang.

Mitch Aug 7th 2010 11:55PM

Honestly you folks with your derogotory comments have no idea what your talking about. Any truly great restaurant you have eaten at be it a drive in to a steak house to a great pizza joint has had someone that passionette (just like Ramsay) behind the scenes orchestrating the great sevice and food you received. Just because you never actually witnessed that kind of talk or style doesnt make it un-true. I have worked in the business for over 25 years and every successful operator I ever knew up to the CEO of some of these top restaurant corps were real hardballs bent on honesty , motivating their employees and of course having great service and great food quality. Sorry..but being a ass kisser, a smoozer or placator doesnt do zilch to insprire the help, does'nt get you respect,and doesnt garner you success in restaurants or the number one reason you work 80 hours a week for years... profits and cash flow.