Being Gordon Ramsay (2026) s01e01 Episode Script

1
Draw your swords! Draw your…
Stand on here.
Stand on here. Stand on there.
Draw your swords! Boom. Boom.
You know
we are leaving in 15 minutes?
- I wanna swap.
- Why do you wanna swap?
- Because I--
- Oh, this one's broken!
That's…
Hold on!
Draw your swords!
Oscar, today Mummy and Daddy
are gonna look at the new restaurant.
Look what we've got to wear.
How cool is that?
You're a proper little Bob the Builder.
Come here!
Just in case. There you go.
You look so good!
Oskie, if you put
bits of pancake on his tray,
and then you can just feed him that.
Let him finish
what's in his mouth, darling.
- Those pancakes are too thick.
- They actually weren't for you.
Oscar, are those pancakes
a little bit too thick?
No.
In America, they're thick pancakes.
In the UK, they're called "crêpes."
Say, "crêpes."
- "Crêpeys."
- They're not, actually.
- They're called pancakes in the UK.
- No, they're called crêpes. No.
They are actually quite thick.
They're…
They are great for wedging the door open.
Right, T, I'm gonna get
my shoes and socks.
Give me a kiss.
- Love ya.
- See you later!
Those pancakes were a little bit thick.
Darling, could you just give it a rest?
- All right.
- They were absolutely fine.
Morning.
Darling, people along here
think you're so weird.
Morning, Mr. Magpie.
How's your wife and children.
Hold on a minute. You say hello
to every magpie in your view,
and you're saying I'm weird
for saying morning to our neighbors?
It's quite normal.
A lot of people are superstitious.
- Why are you superstitious?
- Because you know I'm nervous about this.
It's a huge undertaking
and really the biggest thing
you have done to date.
It's not just your average restaurant.
This could be
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,
and I'm not messing around now.
You just have to see it first.
- There it is at the back. See?
- I can see.
- Do you see it?
- I see it.
Thoughts?
It's high.
At this later stage of your career,
you know my want is
for you to slow down a bit.
"Later stage of my career"?
What, like I'm about to retire?
You're, like, nearly 60.
Nearly 60, my arse.
- Well, how old are you?
- I'm 57. How's that nearly 60?
Uh… Can you count?
It's like 30 years…
- What?
- …that we started dating.
- Shut the front door.
- Listen to what I'm saying.
Thirty years since we got together--
Sorry. There's a little coffee shop there,
just off the road…
Can you not go past
a coffee shop without getting…
- What I was trying to say to you--
- I'll come back.
Hold that moment for one thought.
Support your local coffee shops. Come on.
Jesus Christ, girl.
He drives me mental.
Good morning. Can I have
an extra-hot oat milk latte, please?
Thank you.
- Everybody in.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- We are late.
Unbelievable.
- I mean, shocking.
- I'm not late!
Good morning.
Good morning, everybody. Oh no.
- What's up? Hello, everybody.
- Hello.
- Okay, good. Good.
- Nice?
- Oh my God, come on.
- Yeah.
Is it the… It's so low.
I never just plunge into a sofa
and just, like…
- Yes, you do.
- No, I do not. I don't, fucking…
There you go. There you go.
That's it.
Are you comfy?
I need…
Just one more cushion behind, honestly.
He's like the Princess and the Pea,
isn't he?
No. I'm just… Thank you.
- He's like, "Ooh, do you mind? My back."
- Oh my God. Sorry.
- There you go.
- Yeah…
- Next you'll be taking your trousers off.
- Oh my God. Right. HR.
Let's go. Come on.
1st September, 1998.
We launched Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
Thirty seconds gone.
If you said to me 25 years ago,
"Hey, guess what?"
"You're going to have three stars,
you're going to have an empire,
multiple businesses…"
I don't think I'd be able to understand
just the vastness of what has been done.
Service, please.
Today we're running over 95 restaurants,
two and a half thousand staff.
The one and only, Chef Gordon Ramsay!
We have restaurants in Asia,
North America, the UK and France,
and still growing.
And then there's the media.
Run the fucking food. Now. Run.
Something you haven't done
in 19 fucking years.
From a TV program, to a TV ad,
to a podcast, to a social media video.
Millions of followers…
…across the globe.
It's got huge.
How you doing, man? You good?
We've got to stop meeting like this.
This year's a big one.
22 Bishopsgate is the most difficult,
high-pressurized, ambitious project
I've ever, ever opened in my entire life.
I'm opening five independent businesses
under one roof in an iconic address.
There is so much riding on this
reputationally, financially,
and if Bishopsgate was to fail,
uh, yeah, I'm fucked.
There's no two ways about that.
- We've got 100 and fucking 20 guests.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And in about an hour's time,
we'll have 240 guests.
- Talented fucking chefs. Need to dig in.
- Yeah.
I think people think that they know Gordon
because they see him everywhere.
Young man, if I can fucking
run the plates, so can you.
Come on, you can do it.
He's known for being opinionated,
for saying it straight.
It's just a little bit too straight-laced.
I want everything
on those fucking tables unique.
Does it need to be that big?
They're big fucking oyster shells,
aren't they?
It's just not good enough.
Not good enough.
Common sense is
not that fucking common tonight.
But do they know you when
you're at home behind closed doors? No.
The real Gordon is
when we are on our own with our family.
That's the real us.
For Gordon,
the most important thing is the kids.
Have you done a poo-poo?
Have you done a poo?
You also don't do that right.
Look, you're missing this.
No, that's called pith. Pith off.
You're such a knob.
So when Bishopsgate first came up,
the enormity of it
is what made me so nervous.
And I'm always gonna worry
at him taking on more.
Take a look at this beauty.
Whoa.
Look at that.
Are you ready?
- Ready as I'll ever be.
- Let's go.
- You know I'm scared of heights.
- Oh shit. You tell me now?
22 Bishopsgate keeps me up at night.
These spaces just don't come on the radar.
It's an iconic building
in the middle of the city,
and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
It is humongous.
Twenty-seven thousand square feet.
That's like opening a restaurant
in the middle of fucking Wembley Stadium.
And I've got big plans for this place.
First off, right at the very top,
a 60-seater rooftop garden
with a retractable roof.
Underneath that, Lucky Cat,
a 250-seater Asian-inspired restaurant.
Alongside that,
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High,
a 12-seater unique dining experience.
Then underneath us, you know,
our beautiful all-day brasserie,
Bread Street Kitchen.
And then finally, number five,
the Academy, a stunning culinary school.
It's incredible.
It is incredible.
And I want to be in there.
Doors opening.
Okay, this is…
This is the 59th floor.
So this is Bread Street Kitchen.
So one of five.
- My ears popped.
- Every guest… Yeah.
- Every guest… You ready?
- Yes.
Every guest will have to come up
through here to get up to…
- Okay.
- …Gordon Ramsay High.
So…
Look at that. Shit.
Whoa.
I know.
It is enormous.
Look how far you can see.
Look at the aeroplanes.
- How low they are.
- I think we're on a level with them.
I know.
There's The Shard.
Which looks tiny.
- Look down there.
- Oh!
No, no. Come over. Come over. Seriously.
Look how small everything looks.
God, does that
not make you feel a bit funny?
No. God, no. No, no, no.
London Eye. Houses of Parliament.
St. Paul's Cathedral.
It looks like a… It looks like
some kind of game, doesn't it?
Everything's so tiny.
- But also, down over there…
- Yeah.
…just after Tower Bridge,
is where we first met.
- In Tower Bridge?
- Pont de la Tour.
Oh, Pont de la Tour. Yeah. Sorry.
Shit! Is that it in front of us?
- You brought your fiancée in to meet me.
- Stop fucking around. Jesus Christ.
Honestly, why do you bring
that shit up now?
I'm only telling the story.
Fucking hell.
The first time I met Tana,
I was mates with her boyfriend
at the time, and they picked me up,
uh, and I was with my girlfriend
from Paris
to come to our mate's wedding.
And Tana was driving the car,
and I was sat in the back seat,
and I'm looking at my mate thinking,
"Oh my God,
your girlfriend is fucking gorgeous."
Uh, yeah, she looked like
a young Julia Roberts,
and she brought
a level of excitement like no other.
I'm not too sure if that's what Tana said
when she first met me,
but I get the feeling
that she wasn't a big fan.
I didn't like him.
I thought he was really arrogant,
really full of himself.
So, yeah, he used to really irritate me.
But then there's that whole thing where,
did I not like him
because maybe I really liked him?
I don't know. It took about a month,
and then we were both single.
She knew I didn't have a pot to piss in,
and so, I'll be honest,
I honestly thought for many months, uh,
that Tana was out of my league.
But then, yeah,
we ended up sort of chatting one night
and chatted all night.
I guess I must have fancied him.
I won her over with, uh…
with food, thank fuck.
The amazing ambition was there,
absolute dedication.
He's always been someone who dreams big.
But you know what? He's just…
He's just Gordon to me.
I mean, I've known him since I was 18.
So, you know, we've sort of grew up
through this time together.
If you look at us on pen and paper, no.
But she is the foundation.
There's no two ways about that.
It would've been quite strange, I think,
to meet someone who was already
in the public eye and not understand
what it was like before.
You know,
we've gone through that together,
and I'm always very grateful for that.
Right. I'm dying to take you
up to the top floor. Shall we?
- Yes.
- Wait till you see this.
You ready?
Don't worry about waiting for me.
Sorry. Floor 61. I'm excited.
- I can't tell.
- You ready?
- Oh my God.
- You ready?
Fuck, which key is it? Fucking…
You always swear more
when you get nervous.
Sorry.
Don't worry. It's just the wind.
- Fucking hell.
- Are you… Are you faking that?
I'm not. I'm not fucking around.
Think how high we are.
- No, you go out first.
- No, after you.
No, because I'll close the door…
If the door slams… You go first.
- There's no floor there!
- Oh, fuck off.
So, this is gonna be a beautiful terrace.
We'll have a retractable roof on top.
We can hold your 60th up here.
I think it will be yours first.
Isn't yours, like, next year?
Oh my God, look at this, baby!
It's incredible, isn't it?
It is incredible. It's a big pressure.
Well, for now, it's a shell,
but it's not that far away.
- I was gonna say.
- A matter of months as opposed to years.
So everybody in this building
needs to understand that,
- you know, we're up against it time-wise.
- Yeah.
And for every week
this place doesn't open,
you know, you're losing 100 grand.
So, it's got to open. And it will open.
It will open.
Let's put things in perspective, right?
Bishopsgate is high risk but high reward.
I'm 57.
I'm not getting any younger.
I never thought I'd say this.
It's one of my final stakes in the ground.
You know, something that
I'm going to be best remembered for.
The budget is £20 million,
and I'm doing that personally
with the help of the bank.
It scares the shit out of me, man.
I grew up on a council estate
in Stratford-upon-Avon
and I still remember my school uniform
having black patches
on my second-hand trousers.
I remember my mum saying to me
that these nice leather patches
on my trousers look great.
It was only because
there was holes underneath those patches.
The way that I multitask
is watching her multitasking.
Three jobs, you know.
A cook, you know,
a night nurse, and a cleaner.
And one minute, she's cooking food for us,
and next minute, she's got her hands
inside a urinal, cleaning the place.
And I'll be honest with you,
there's always that little
needle of fear.
"You're gonna lose it."
And I hold onto that needle.
You know, I want that little prod
just to remind myself.
That's why I'm a hard and difficult person
to work for.
I wanna make sure everything's perfect.
And I don't ever want anything to slip.
So it's sort of all or nothing.
I want to make sure that this building has
some of the best restaurants in the world.
And to get there,
we go through so many tiny details.
Even down to the napkins.
You know, is it an open kitchen?
Does it need something more intimate?
First impressions. It needs a wow factor.
Phenomenal chefs.
Massive brigade.
The uniforms.
Menu size.
The flower display.
The size of the water bottle.
I am the biggest pain in the arse
because I'll scrutinize everything.
But before we do anything,
we've just gotta build the thing.
I'm actually not from London.
I'm from Birmingham.
I live in a place called Stirchley.
Um, it's about
a three-and-a-half-hour journey
every Monday morning for me.
Up at 3:00 this morning.
On the train and across the tubes.
Up to Bishopsgate.
I don't get much time at home
on the weekend.
Back Friday afternoon,
and my weekend's spent
shopping, really, with the wife.
Then we'll probably have
one of the grandkids on Sunday.
And then I'm in bed at 9:00
and up for 3:00, 3:30
again Monday morning.
This is the fourth build
I've worked on for Gordon.
This is another level. This is a big job.
But at the end of the day,
I'd hope to think he remembers me
as a man that can get the job done
on time, every time
and right every time, without any issues.
Just get that one up first to level 60.
And the rest is level 59, yeah?
All right, Terry.
The biggest issues are the deliveries.
We're the highest building
in the City of London.
There's only one lift
that comes to this floor.
The size of the lift, you can only get
materials in that are three meters long,
so you're up and down the stairs all day
to make sure that
the next delivery can come through.
It's hard work.
It's hard graft. It really is.
But we are proud to be working on it.
We really are proud.
- Christ, this place is busy.
- Gordon.
You good?
When Gordon visits,
it's always a nerve-wracking time
for us and the team on site.
This should be in, in the next day.
And what is this underneath here?
Is that wood?
Yeah, it is…
There is a lot to do.
Um, but the guys are throwing
all the resource they've got at it.
- What happens to this, by the way?
- It's a structural beam. It'll be part of…
- Right.
- …the sushi bar.
Do you not think we should paint it black?
Preference. It's whatever you prefer.
I think it'll be more glamorous
painted, right?
- Could you put that on your list, please?
- I will do, yep.
You know, he's somebody
who's extremely driven, extremely focused.
- What's this area here?
- Pot wash.
Is that right,
the pot wash being so close to the…
- There's a door there.
- I'm talking about the noise.
Oh, noise-wise?
Fucking hell.
He doesn't leave any ambiguity
on what is expected of us as a team.
- What's this in here?
- Private dining room.
- Private dining.
- Which is all glass on…
- Yeah. Smoked glass?
- It can be, if you want it smoked.
I think it should be lightly smoked.
Don't you?
- Lightly smoked.
- Well, just for privacy.
If it's called a private dining room,
and you've got no privacy,
then how's it fucking private?
- Yeah.
- So…
Especially when you got
people walking past to the toilet.
Yeah. I don't want it looking
like the zoo. You know?
So could we lightly smoke that, please?
We've got 22 weeks, basically,
to get this finished and over the line.
This is the setting out plan.
We're 30 mils short here.
You do get a lot more pressure
because it's a high-profile job,
especially who it's for,
being Gordon Ramsay.
And at the end of the day,
it's his job, it's his restaurant.
So it's Gordon's rules.
You know that wall you built?
- Yeah.
- Take it out.
- All right.
- They don't want it now.
Are these your sons?
Are they? They look like you.
Thank you very much, Gordon.
Don't think I'm that old yet.
I'm not far off.
They look like your sons.
The only question I want to know,
are we on time?
- No.
- No?
No, we're in front.
What?
- Love it. Keep it in front.
- Yeah.
Thanks, bud. Good to see you.
Thanks for that, lads.
Mate, Alfie's gonna be here
in a minute. Are you ready for a haircut?
Shall I show you
what Nana used to do to me?
See, she used to put a bowl on my head,
round like that,
and then cut all those bits here.
- So it looked like a proper helmet.
- Yeah, but…
- Would you like that as well?
- Yeah!
Yeah!
Gordon works a lot, but when we're home,
it's always a really happy time
because he is most relaxed
when things are just very normal.
Come on, let's get it.
Whose is this? Whose is this?
Oh no, T, don't do that.
I mean, no one grounds you
more than having kids, do they?
Yeah, mini-me's, I call them.
I fucking love it.
We've got six kids.
We've got our very own brigade.
Megan, the eldest, 27 years of age.
Then there's the twins,
Holly and Jack, 25 years old.
Matilda at 23.
Oscar at six. Jesse James at 18 months.
Did I miss any of them?
- No, you didn't.
- No? Thank fuck for that.
And I like my hair just how it is.
Yeah, you need a tiny trim
because you don't like me brushing it.
And you can't go to school
and not be able to see.
It's school time, okay?
We're going back to school,
so you've got to look nice and smart.
Being with them
gives you an incredible uplift.
It's a real special time.
That was a good one.
I, sadly, had
a torrid relationship with my father.
I just couldn't wait to spend time
out of the house, um, away from him.
You know, it's fair to say
you weren't his favorite son.
He used to take joy in sort of
saying things he knew you'd rebel against.
Yeah. My father called me a snob once.
And I said, "No, definitely not a snob."
"I just wanna get out
of the shit mess I was born in."
I had to sit there, you know, at weekends
and almost watch him
ruin his life through alcohol.
It's hard, isn't it,
when someone's an alcoholic?
It's very hard to relate to that,
'cause you're just… You're nervous.
You're… You're worried about, you know,
hitting the end of the bottle
and seeing that bottle
of Bacardi disappear,
'cause you know what happens
at the end of that.
So, in many ways,
I'm using that awful relationship
to become a better dad.
There's the door. Is it Alfie?
You go get it. Morning, Alfie.
- Oops, sorry.
- Morning. Morning, Alfie.
A bowl goes on my head,
and then you cut all around here.
How big's the bowl gonna be?
Uh, I'll show you.
- I mean…
- Dad?
Let's try this one.
Let's try the… Oh, mate!
There you go. A proper bellend.
Dad! Don't say that.
- He--
- Don't say it.
Don't say it.
Imagine if he goes to his teacher,
"Do you like my haircut? I'm a bellend."
Wanna come with me to make a coffee?
Is it nice?
Tilly and Gordon are… are very similar.
Probably the most similar
out of all the kids.
They have this whole connection
with Tilly's love of food,
and I think the fact that it does seem
as if she's gonna go into that industry
has made him really happy,
because at one stage, it looked like
no one was interested in that.
Let's make stir-fry noodles.
I started cooking when I was very young.
When Dad was filming, he used to see me
watching through the door,
and he used to just prop me up
on the side,
and very slowly he started saying,
"Oh, can you mix this?"
Or, "Can you add a pinch of salt here?"
I think, for me, it was really exciting
being part of everything he did.
So I definitely got the bug for cooking
at a young age.
But now I'm about to have a chance
to go to culinary school
and learn things by myself.
You know, get my own knowledge
and tell Dad some things that I learnt
that he might not know.
Yeah, my little girl's going for a fitting
to get her first set of chef whites,
which, I mean, in many ways…
I put them on her back
at the age of, I think it was four.
I got her a little pink chef's coat
years ago,
and then thought,
"No, that's too forceful."
You know,
"Get them if you want it."
And she's asked.
- Gross.
- It's quite an important moment.
Not as daunting as seeing your daughter
in a wedding dress,
but it is fucking up there.
It is out there.
It's like, "Shit," you know, "a mini-me."
- Bye-bye!
- Tills.
Let's go, girl.
Jump in.
Dad.
- You've got no space.
- Tills.
- Wait for Mum. Just wait.
- Now you're overreacting.
Dad.
- Come on, Tills.
- I think you're on Jack's car.
- I am not on it.
- You are.
Let's go, sexy bitch.
Dad.
- You're in drive, right? Just… Careful.
- Tilly, seriously. Am I in drive, really?
Seriously.
This cookery school's got
one of the best reputations in the world.
- Really?
- Not just in, uh… in Ireland.
How do you think it compares to other ones
that you… you've visited, you've seen?
This is the real deal.
You won't wanna leave.
- No.
- You will not wanna leave.
I do feel quite nervous, you know.
It's the first time I'll be
in a proper professional setting
like that,
and I know I'm only learning,
but I like things to go well.
- But you are gonna make mistakes.
- Mm-hmm.
- And being nervous is quite a cool thing.
- Yeah.
Um, if you weren't nervous,
I'd be a bit worried.
- But sponge. Get over the mistake.
- Mm-hmm.
And don't--
- Don't dwell on it.
- Yeah.
What's the hardest kitchen
you've worked in?
- Which one? Looking back to them.
- I'll be honest. Marco's was brutal.
- Was that the hardest?
- But in an incredible way.
The hardest
'cause I was learning the most.
When I started cooking,
I didn't have a father
that guided me in my career.
I had a father that told me, you know,
cooking was for women,
and it wasn't a man's job.
But then I got into a kitchen
with the first-ever British chef
to win three stars,
the most prolific chef in the country,
Marco Pierre White.
And he was like… in fact, a father figure.
He had the gift of this… Picasso.
He put food on a plate like no other.
And so your fingers
had to become so disciplined,
and… and you had to follow quickly,
because if you didn't, you know,
step up and match what he wanted,
uh, you're fucking toast, man.
And that scared the crap out of me.
I was Marco's right-hand man.
I went to hell and back
every day of my life for him,
18 hours a day, six days a week.
But the level of skill I was learning
was at a rate of knots.
And so I became good very quickly,
and he brought
that natural talent out of me.
Do you remember any of your
biggest first mistakes in the kitchen?
Oh, massive fuck-ups.
I remember the, uh, pasta machine.
- Two exact same machines.
- Mm-hmm.
But for some reason, on zero,
the pasta went thinner,
uh, on the older one
that had a blue plaster on there,
so we made that for raviolis.
I remember halfway through the raviolis,
and Marco said, "Pasta's a bit thick."
"Did it go through?"
I said, "It went through twice."
He said, "Are you using
the blue plaster machine?" I said, "Yeah."
We finished making them,
and he turned the machine upside down,
and it was the wrong machine.
And we're talking about millimeters,
millimeter difference.
He then made me pay for those raviolis.
I never made that mistake again.
You had to pay for all of them?
And he sold them that night
in the restaurant as well.
Honestly, ridiculous.
Motherfucker.
It's on your right, coming up soon.
Let him come out.
Thank you.
Oh fuck.
Fuck.
- Was that me?
- Dad.
Oh shit. You thought…
Oh fuck.
- Oh shit.
- Dad.
- Dad.
- I did not see him.
- He's coming out to get you.
- Fuck. Don't worry, I'll get him.
Say sorry.
Sorry. I didn't see you
on the side there. My fault entirely.
Can I give you my details, please? Sorry.
What a fucking nightmare!
It was so far left.
Of course I didn't see it.
And no reverse sensors.
Oh well. This is gonna be
an expensive fucking trip.
- Only wanted a pair of chef whites.
- Dad, you need to park.
Yeah.
Fucking hell.
And in your mum's car as well.
Fuck's sake. Bollocks.
Let's go on in.
- Hello. How are you?
- Hi there. Not too bad.
Good. Here for
some chef's jackets, please. Downstairs?
Thank you.
Out of all the kids, Tilly knows me,
and she's very good
at unlocking that defense mechanism,
and she knows how
to really get straight to me.
Is there a chef's discount for my…
I'm sure there is a chef discount for you.
Well, we just smashed the car,
so any, uh… any short change…
We? It wasn't "we."
Any short change
would be greatly appreciated.
Am I able to try on?
- You are, of course, able to try on.
- Amazing. I think just try some on, Dad.
They've gotta be white.
- Yes.
- Yeah?
The way Dad is in the kitchen is,
you know, he's in a stressful environment.
He reacts the way he does for perfection.
At home, he is the complete opposite.
He manages to juggle a lot,
and I think that's one thing
I've always admired about him,
is he can be the busiest…
the busiest man ever,
but if any of us needed,
I know I can text him, call him any time.
Jeez, it's like going back to school.
So we've got two little ones
going back to school,
and then got the eldest
going back to culinary school.
- Jesus, when did--
- Eldest?
No, our eldest daughter.
No, sorry, youngest.
I thought you were getting changed?
He's emotional when he's proud, for sure.
There are those signs you can always see,
kind of like long blinks,
and then he looks up,
and then he won't face you, and he'll go…
And he looks around, and he just…
He doesn't want people to see him cry.
- Dad, you ready?
- I am ready. Let's go, girl.
- Hit me!
- I'm here.
- Oh my God.
- What do you think?
- Not the shoes.
- I love that. What…
I've tucked it up 'cause it's quite long.
- They need to be long.
- Really?
Yeah, they'll insist. Safety.
That looks amazing. Come here.
Oh my God.
You never tuck that up like that.
- That's why they're double-breasted.
- Okay.
It looks amazing.
Oh my God.
The blue trousers as well.
- I love the blue.
- No, it's such a… It's such a chef's look.
Girl, you look fricking amazing.
I'm gonna wear
these trousers all the time.
That jacket looks lovely on you.
It's nicely fitted as well.
How do you wear this bit?
Yeah, so that jacket there,
there's a little button
that gets done up in there.
- So that stops that from slipping down.
- Mm-hmm.
All right.
Oh my God. And then that one doubles up.
But the cool kids go there,
but that's your dad's bit.
Let me just take a picture.
I cannot believe you like that.
I'm gonna send it to Mum.
My little girl's gone all chef-y.
Girl.
Ta-da!
Send it to family. Incredible.
Look.
Look.
- Shit.
- Now I look like you.
Huh? Now you just need
to fucking cook like me.
Hey, how are you?
I've crashed the fucking car.
London is, for me,
one of the culinary capitals,
not just in Europe, but in the world.
It's a hotspot.
It's a destination for incredible food.
So for 22 Bishopsgate to stand out
in amongst that competition,
we need to put phenomenal chefs
at the coalface.
But it's also exciting
because it's a unique opportunity
for nursing talent.
Bread Street Kitchen is
one of our mainstream all-day concepts.
Lucky Cat is an Asian-inspired,
Japanese influence,
and that's where I want to experiment,
with that hybrid,
and develop something magical.
And Michael is an incredible young,
talented, hungry chef, late twenties.
He's… He hasn't even hit his prime yet.
This'll be the beginning of his prime.
He's still in the transition
from head chef to executive chef,
and I think it will be one
of the biggest moves of his entire career.
Trying to operate a restaurant
that high in the sky
is gonna be challenging on its own.
You know, you're going up 60 floors,
can't just receive a delivery,
you know, at any time and…
and just walk it into the kitchen.
So throughout the whole team,
we're gonna have to adapt,
you know, our normal,
day-to-day kitchen life on that.
You know, to be a part of,
you know, actually opening that
and making it successful
is… is… is really exciting,
really exciting.
But it's a big, big role.
I've been doing this now 13 years.
So two years at Lucky Cat.
I went from senior sous,
head chef, then exec quick.
So taking all these,
you know, all these projects
and trying to open
a new restaurant in Bishopsgate,
which is obviously
a massive, massive thing for everyone,
you know, even for Gordon…
This is huge. Even now, it's huge for him.
Everything that I do,
that… that the team does,
is directly, you know,
associated to Gordon.
Everything that we do,
you know, is… is… is his name.
You know, that's why
every day we make sure
that what we do in every restaurant
is always up to that standard
that he expects and that he sets, really.
There's a determination behind those eyes
that reminds me a little bit of myself.
But the pressure's more,
harder than you can believe
because the current state
of the industry today is… is pretty dire.
The cost of produce is extortionate.
There's increased tariffs
coming onto the radar every day.
The interest rates are on the rise.
And, you know, the generations,
multiple generations are drinking less.
The whole sector is struggling.
I've closed multiple restaurants
over my career,
and I've learned that competition is rife.
I think 65% of new restaurants close
within the first 18 months of trading.
So you have to be better than good.
The first time
I had to close a restaurant,
would you believe, was where I was born,
in Glasgow, years ago.
It was fully booked
for six months in advance,
Friday, Saturday.
But Monday to Thursday,
it was a fricking ghost town.
No one could justify spending 120 quid,
you know, for dinner
on a Monday night in Glasgow.
And so I… I… I left Glasgow
with my tail between my legs.
It was painful, painful.
That was a…
That was a big wake-up call.
But everything I've failed in,
everything I've closed,
everything I've opened,
and everything I've learnt
will go into Bishopsgate.
To be successful in this business,
it needs to be incredibly popular.
So I came up with an idea
for a before and after party,
and the team thought I was fucking mad.
"Hold on a minute. You're gonna bring what
to a building site?"
Influencers.
"What? Are you fucking kidding me?"
There's going to be builders everywhere
and bloody vis jackets and boots and shit.
But when you give incredible food
in this incredible rooftop garden
that's never been seen before,
with a view
that is the best in the country,
you're gonna blow their socks off.
So when it comes to things like…
You came up with the hard hat party.
Where did that idea come from?
- Do you mind if I go first?
- Please.
It was just to fuck every food critic off
in the country.
Because ten years ago,
we were depending on their pens.
Ten years ago,
we were depending on their insults.
Ten years ago,
we were depending on their egos.
- And they destroyed restaurants.
- Yeah.
And over 25 years,
we've taken so much shit
from, you know, critics.
When we first started dating,
we were excited for a family
within the first two years.
And there was a piece
in one of the newspapers,
"The failed footballer
that had a shotgun wedding."
And it caused such hurt amongst us,
because it was like… Pfft!
How does that relate to food?
H-how do you write
about a restaurant experience
with that headline?
Critics are important, okay?
And constructive criticism
is something that we thrive on.
But when it becomes personal…
You know, one of the most prolific critics
just had a brutal personal vendetta.
When he walked in with Joan Collins,
he thought that I wouldn't have the balls
to do anything to him
because he's sat
with the glamorous, amazing Joan Collins.
And yeah, I couldn't wait
for him to sit down, get the menu,
time 20 minutes,
and ask him to get the hell out
of that restaurant.
Whether you're with Joan Collins
or sat with the Queen,
you're still going out, mate.
You're not sitting here.
I know it was wrong, um,
but that's what happens
when women like Joan Collins
come to dinner with knobheads.
And so it was 25 years
of that stupid bashing, that…
That whole influencer event,
for me, was a clever move to say,
"Thanks, but no thanks."
Welcome, guys, to sunny, lovely London.
I'm Harrison Webb, your host.
That's cringe, innit?
That's gonna be in, though.
You've seen it now.
Today we're in London, and we are eating
at Gordon Ramsay restaurants for 24 hours.
RIP my bank account,
because this video
is not sponsored by Mr. Ramsay.
A lot of chefs hate these influencers…
Up here. This is sick. I love it.
…because they don't understand
where they're going
with their phones
and their constant posting.
But they're very powerful,
and… they don't take six weeks
to fill a restaurant.
When they post, it goes viral,
and it's gone in seconds
to the other end of the world.
That is really good.
Wow, mine looks like a crime scene.
You've absolutely destroyed that.
Equally, when it's bad,
that storm can hit you
before the end of service,
so they are the most powerful critics
on the planet today.
Yeah, I personally just don't get it.
So tonight I'm gonna fill the top floor
with 100 of the most powerful influencers
to give them a before insight.
I don't think it's been done before,
so it's a nice way of sort of
letting them know just,
A, how big this is,
but, B, you know, "On the record,
I fucking need you guys."
This is gonna be a clear walkway
for the, eh, influencers.
So I wanna get most of it done today,
'cause it's a big--
I've got deliveries coming in tonight
as well,
so we need to get this area clear.
I'm not happy about doing it.
You know, at the end of the day,
it's a working building site.
While we're doing this,
we're not building
Mr. Ramsay's restaurant.
So the two of us are laid on this,
uh, making it all nice and rosy
for influencers.
I'm probably wrong in saying this.
I think those… these people who are pretty
for the camera and look pretty,
but they just wanna sit there
taking pretty pictures of food
and putting it out on the internet.
What's the point?
Sit there and eat it, enjoy it.
Don't wait till it's gone cold.
- Chives gyozas, yes. Sliced beef, yes.
- Yep. Yep.
- Mixed cress, I can take now.
- No.
Can I have a punnet
of mixed cress, Josh, please?
We have had to adapt to the fact
that we have no facilities there
at the moment to do anything hot.
And, um, it is most definitely
still a building site.
And also, they can't dustproof the area.
It just means that
we'll be working directly on the roof.
Ideally, we don't want rain,
but obviously we're in London.
We can't stop prepping,
we can't change our plan,
and in six and a half hours,
we'll… we'll… we'll know if, uh…
if everyone needs
to bring umbrellas or not.
We can't ever become second, third best.
People can't get tired of the ideas.
And of course I deal with things now
in my fifties better
than I did in my forties,
and I dealt with things in my forties
better than I did in my thirties.
Understand that there will be problems.
Somewhere down the line, something,
throughout your day,
is gonna piss you off.
If it was to rain between 2:00 and 3:00
would there be enough time for set-up
between 3:00 and 7:00?
Not really. Not much point doing anything
before that shower's come over, so…
Yep.
For some reason, I thought there was
some kind of sheet over the top of that.
Eventually it will be retractable.
It's not always going to be mesh.
Um…
We're not quite there yet, yeah.
Do you think half the tower
will be covered in cloud up there?
Or is that… Because it's so gray.
I don't know how high that ceiling is.
You can see most of it today.
Earlier you couldn't. It was covered.
Jesus Christ. Look how sunny
it's been all week as well.
Look, honestly, now this is it.
We're just packing up,
and we won't be back
until 11:00, 12:00 tonight.
We've checked and double-checked
every little detail, yeah?
- Every detail.
- Once we're over there and up there,
it'll be like, shit, we forgot the…
We've checked,
but look, I'm not a weatherman.
If it rains, it rains.
Like, it is what it is.
Let's put towels over it.
Let's put towels over it,
- so you can't see it.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think it's getting dark outside.
Yes, definitely.
I'm gonna go with it
being trees and bus coverage.
I've got faith in the, uh…
in the British weather.
- Oh shit.
- There you go. You spoke too soon.
That's good. That's good. That's good.
Come on, you.
- Now it is raining.
- Yeah.
We won't go out there right now.
Motherfucker.
The roof's not on yet,
and that's where the fucking party is.
Everyone's on this. Everyone's gonna say
that I look like a fucking idiot.
Let's just hope this fucking rain stops.
I want to expand. I want to grow.
Morning.
That's beautiful. Really beautiful.
And I want to be
one of the best chefs in the world.
Chef Gordon Ramsay's in the house!
- Is that real?
- Yes, chef.
But be careful what you wish for.
Fucking hell.
That pen hit me right in the eye.
When you get successful,
everyone thinks it's glamorous,
but it's super full-on.
Unfortunately,
we're looking at an eight-week delay.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck.
And there's a lot of figureheads
in the industry
that'd love to see me fall.
Oh, for fuck's sakes.
Especially at Bishopsgate.
This isn't working.
This isn't working. This isn't working.
Oh my gosh. This has got worse.
If I was a builder,
I'd be shitting myself. I'm not gonna lie.
It's actually much worse down here.
Jesus Christ, it looks terrible.
How many weeks till we open?
- Another 20 weeks.
- Shit.
But that's
what puts extra fuel in my tank.
Mad. Mad, mad, man.
- Let's go!
- Ooh!
Over here, Daddy! Down here!
Gordon, thank you for
trusting me with your beautiful daughter.
I'm going--
- Girl, I'm sorry.
- Hi!
I was so desperate to surprise you.
I think I may retire down here
after Bishopsgate.
Absolute bullshit.
What the fuck is that?
It looks like shit on a plate.
That looks fucking terrible.
This thing is just gonna take
balls of steel to get opened.
Fuck me!
My bollocks are like pancakes.
Three, two, one.
Let's go!