As a youngster he took up professional football with Glasgow Rangers in 1981, but unexpectedly hung up his boots after a leg injury. Football’s loss was the culinary world’s gain when Gordon decided on a career in catering enrolling with an HND course in hotel management.
Five years later Gordon joined the famous Maxim’s restaurant in London as Chef de partie, eventually followed by a year at ‘Harvey’s’ Marco Pierre White’s south London restaurant. Still only in his twenties, Gordon moved to Le Gavroche to work alongside the eminent Albert Roux.
The master chef in the making soon realised he needed first hand experience of the intricacies of classic French cooking. In 1990 he moved to France where he spent three years in the kitchens of Guy Savoy and Joel Robuchon.
Gordon then took a year off to cook on the yacht of a media tycoon. A year later, he was back in London as chef of the newly opened Aubergine. Within three years of opening he garnered two Michelin stars and several accolades. 1995 saw Gordon win 'Newcomer of the Year' at the prestigious Catey Awards. It was perhaps inevitable that the chef with a reputation for excellence and a volatile temper would soon be setting up his own establishment.
In 1998, following the publication of his first book ‘Passion for Flavour’, he opened Gordon Ramsay in London’s chic Chelsea. He was still only 32.
Gordon’s first taste of TV exposure was on Channel Four’s controversial ‘Boiling Point’, a forbearer of the later reality TV shows ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ which would make him a household name.
A year later, Gordon opened Pétrus with his protégé Marcus Wareing as Chef Patron, in London's St. James's Street. This collaboration saw Gordon earning a Michelin star. The wave of acclaim and success continued and in October 2001, Gordon opened 'Gordon Ramsay' in Claridge's. The restaurant’s reputation for excellence gained a Michelin star in 2003.
1999 saw the publication of Gordon’s second book ‘Passion for Seafood’.
2000 witnessed a watershed for the now popular and media savvy chef. Gordon not only won Chef of the Year award at the Cateys 2000, but his restaurant was also voted the Top Restaurant in the UK. As if that wasn’t enough, it was also named as the best Fine Dining Restaurant in the 2001 Harden’s Guide. Not bad for a lad who started out on an HND management course.