ABU DHABI // Gordon Ramsay, the celebrity chef famous for a series of cookbooks and television shows, including Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen, is to open a culinary academy in Dubai.
With a Dh500 million fortune and a dozen Michelin stars to his name, Ramsay has enjoyed great success. Now he plans to give aspiring young cooks the opportunity to follow in his footsteps.
During a whirlwind trip to Dubai, where he owns and operates the restaurant Verre at the Dubai Creek Hotel, Ramsay, 41, unveiled plans to train young enthusiasts to Michelin-star standards and draft them into his 19 restaurants around the world.
“The idea is that chefs will not have to go through four years of training to learn how to make a Victoria sponge,” he said.
“I want to fast-track them through the whole process and then drop them into two- and three-starred Michelin restaurants. The academy would be for young, fresh chefs who are willing to learn and not afraid of hard work.”
Ramsay’s company, Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd, jointly bought the Tante Marie cookery school in the UK last month together with Absolute Taste, a UK-based catering firm. The academy, which was established more than 50 years ago, offers aspiring chefs the chance to learn cordon bleu and professional catering skills within six months.
Despite its high cost – nearly Dh90,000 per course – the academy has long been popular with school-leavers. Ramsay, who plans to take an active role in teaching chefs in the Tante Marie schools, already runs a two-year scholarship scheme in the UK to develop young talent.
Mr Ramsay said his protégé, Angela Hartnett, spent three years in Dubai and “loved it” – and he expected to see many more chefs coming out of the city in the next five years.
“The Emirates are easily accessible, with a fantastic working environment for staff to enjoy their downtime with plenty of sunshine and beaches,” he said. “The different food influences and culture make this a really exciting place to be.”
Ramsay is proud of having launched the career of Miss Hartnett, 38, who worked in his first restaurant, Aubergine, in the 1990s before going on to launch his venues Verre and Amaryllis in Scotland, subsequently winning her own Michelin star.
Ramsay pointed to the workforce at Verre as an example of the international talent that could be nurtured within the planned school. The 35-strong team includes Indian, British, Indonesian and Filipino staff.
The chef, who is as renowned for his foul-mouthed outbursts as for his skills in the kitchen, said: “It is about finding the best talent in the nation. I have chefs who are associated with my name and working in my organisation winning awards every year.”
Ramsay is still searching for a location for his school, which he expects to open in the autumn.
Ramsay visits the UAE about five times a year and plans to return this summer for a holiday with his family.
The second most decorated chef in the world, after Alain Ducasse, he has boasted of being the first to recognise the potential of the Middle East.
Since he opened Verre in 2001, fellow British chefs Gary Rhodes and Marco Pierre White, as well as French-born Ducasse, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Pierre Gagnaire, have followed suit by opening ventures in the region.
Tahira Yaqoob