Gordon Ramsay Showed Immense Support For This Distressed Cook

Summary

• Gordon Ramsay's big personality has helped him break records and show his softer side.
• Ramsay offered sensitive advice to a struggling chef, showing his empathy and experience.
• Despite his tough reputation, working for Gordon Ramsay may provide valuable mentorship and guidance.

Throughout Gordon Ramsay's time in the public eye, he has mostly been known for his larger-than-life personality. After all, Gordon has been the kind of guy to cook for world leaders or engage in public feuds, and he has even called celebrities out.

Thankfully for Gordon, his big personality has helped him to do things like break records with his Hot Ones appearance. However, Gordon's daughter is a notably kind person, and he has shown his softer side, like when he mourned a MasterChef judge. Still, many fans were taken by surprise by how supportive Gordon was when he answered a distressed chef's question.

Gordon Ramsay Tried To Help An Unknown Professional Chef Who Was Suffering In Kitchens

In 2015, Gordon Ramsay took part in a Reddit Ask Me Anything session. Typically when celebrities take part in those sessions, they have people telling them how great they are, and they get asked specific questions about their most famous projects.

During Gordon's AMA, he mostly got asked questions like that. However, one person asked a lengthy question that was deeply personal and serious that many celebrities would really struggle to answer sensitively.

However, Gordon took virtually everyone who discovered the question by surprise. Gordon did this by answering the question in such a sensitive, kind, and helpful way. Gordon also continued to show his softer side by offering the person who asked the question an opportunity.

During the AMA, the top-upvoted question was from a professional chef who clearly was going through a very hard time in their life. For context, the chef who was asking Gordon for help stated they were working in a Michelin-starred kitchen.

Which chefs have the most Michelin stars, according to the August Escoffier School of Culinary Arts?

Despite reaching that level of success, the chef looking for help wrote about how disillusioned they were with their life. In response, Gordon expressed how he went through a lot of the same emotions early in his career.

"That's an amazing question. First of all, I've been in your shoes... So I came out of my training in Paris, after getting my ass kicked in some of the best restaurants in the world... I'd run myself into the ground, as you described. Cooking at this level is so intense. So don't give up."

On top of telling the struggling chef that he could relate, Gordon also offered advice. Most notably, Gordon advised the chef that they needed to take some time off away from the kitchen.

"What you need to do is take a break... I took some time off, and got aboard a boat, and was a private chef on a yacht. And those 6-9 months off allowed me to regenerate... Be honest with yourself, and take a month out. Now if that month out - just stepping back - if there's one thing I've taught my young chefs today it's to work hard, and not get disillusioned with the bigger picture.

Of course, given that Gordon is rich and famous, taking time off work may not be that scary for him. However, for an unknown chef, walking away from a job at a Michelin-starred restaurant may have seemed terrifying.

After the struggling chef asked Gordon Ramsay for advice during the Ask Me Anything session, the post went viral. That resulted in the struggling chef choosing to delete their profile to avoid unwanted attention. As such, it is unclear whether Gordon's advice ultimately helped them.

However, Gordon assured the struggling chef to have confidence in himself. As Gordon wrote to the chef, if they are good enough to work in a Michelin-starred restaurant, they have the skills to get jobs in other kitchens.

"If there's one thing I've taught my young chefs today it's to work hard, and not get disillusioned with the bigger picture.That's the most important thing about cooking - you may be working down the road for me here in Atlantic City, but you could travel the world and still get a job in the kitchen, and still get time off in the same time. So that's what i would suggest, stepping back for a month, shutting everything down, and then starting up again in 4 or 5 week's time."

Still not through, Gordon offered the struggling chef an opportunity of a lifetime.

"Listen - if you send me your resume, I could look at putting you into one of the restaurants as a work experience, if you want to see something different, in order to make sure you don't come off the rails, to see something different, to create that level of interest."

Could Working For Gordon Ramsay Help A Burnt-Out Professional Chef?

Based on the public perception of Gordon Ramsay, it may seem like working for him would be an awful thing for a burnt-out professional chef. However, just because Gordon has a reputation for being harsh doesn't mean that working for him is a miserable experience.

In April 2023, a chef who worked in Gordon's kitchen for years spoke to The Mirror about his experience. While he fully admitted that working for Gordon was "tough", Steve Allen also spoke about how Gordon actively tried to teach young chefs who work for him.

"The first year you do sort of see that TV persona of his, it's quite tough. I'm not going to tell you exactly what he says, but I've worked with nastier chefs that will push you and there's no follow back and they don't show you right from wrong, whereas with him, he's pushing and guiding you in the right direction."

During the same interview, Steve elaborated on Gordon's relationships with the chefs who work for him. Most importantly, Steve expressed that Gordon cared about the chefs in his kitchens.

"That was the best thing about Gordon, nothing he says is personal, he really invests in people and he really cared. I loved working for him, I honestly think he's fantastic."

Based on a quote like that, it is easy to see how a disillusioned but talented chef like the one from the Reddit question could be helped by working for Gordon.

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