Chef Gordon Ramsay, Versailles, 2024. WALDORF ASTORIA VERSAILLES – TRIANON PALACE
Le Monde was due to meet Gordon Ramsay near the Sun King’s Palace at the Waldorf Astoria Versailles, a luxury hotel that has been home to one of his restaurants for the past 15 years. But as we neared the suite where the rendezvous was to take place, the first person we came across was his bodyguard, a gorilla with an easygoing smile. And when we finally reached the 57-year-old British chef, his hair disheveled and his forehead deeply furrowed, his agent reminded us that we only had 20 minutes for the interview. The kind of welcome you would expect when meeting a Hollywood star.
Ramsay is indeed a star, perhaps the most famous chef in the world. It’s been 20 years since the first episode of Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares (which inspired a French version, Cauchemar en Cuisine) aired in 2004 that the host has made a name for himself terrorizing contestants on widely available TV shows. These include Hell’s Kitchen, The F Word and 24 Hours to Hell and Back.
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