Gordon Ramsay- Hell's Kitchen Chef
Chef Ramsay is very comfortable having a friendly conversation. Heck, he's even downright warm, as he profusely apologizes for calling late. His mother had come over for a visit, see, and he lost track of time.
He is polite and a thorough gentleman. Just once, however, you wish he would lose his cool and scream that you're a donkey.
"What is it with that 'donkey' word?" Ramsay sighs in mock exasperation. "Everybody wants me to call them a donkey. I just came back from Australia, and they don't have donkeys there, and they still wanted me to say it."
It was during the second season of Hell's Kitchen that the famously foul-mouthed chef used the D-word as an insult. Now, as the show launches its fifth season, 42-year-old Chef Ramsay finds himself stuck with a catchphrase.
That's the thing about Gordon Ramsay's TV fame: Viewers love to watch him scream, shout and kick things. It kind of puzzles the chef.
"I was doing a book signing in London, and this man comes up with his children and asks me to write 'Merry Christmas and (shove) off,' " he says, sounding perplexed. "I can't write that in a book! And he stands in line with his children to ask me this?"
On the other hand, the chefs aspiring to win Hell's Kitchen all seem to cower at the thought of the volatile Ramsay hurling an insult their way. It is part of what makes the show so dynamic: Thanks to Ramsay's nervous energy, you never know when he is going to blow.
"We spend more time with the individuals in Hell's Kitchen than we do with our families," he says. "It's highly emotional and claustrophobic. To be honest, the closer you get to them, the bigger you can kick their (rear)."
And he promises to kick plenty of (rear) during the new season. It's not merely for the cameras. The winner, after all, gets a high-profile job as head chef at the tony Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, N.J.
"If you start disintegrating under the pressure, don't become a chef," he says. "Then just make cakes for your family and be a phenomenal person and don't cook in the premier league of restaurants.
"When I start to see people crack, that's nowhere near the pressure of running your own business, managing a large staff, paying a mortgage, etc. If you want to aspire to be a great chef, there's a price to pay for that."
Ramsay knows that firsthand. He operates more than 20 restaurants around the globe. His books are regular best-sellers. In addition to Hell's Kitchen and his other U.S. program, Kitchen Nightmares, he tapes additional series that air concurrently in his native United Kingdom. And thanks to his chiseled good looks, he has become something of a sex symbol to foodies around the globe.
"It's exciting," he says. "To be honest, I've got the most amazing team, and that helps tremendously. It's a juggling act, I'll admit, but the children and my wife come with me to Los Angeles, so we do manage."
And despite his Michelin Star reputation, Gordon Ramsay knows how to loosen his culinary guard.