# This week in cookery TV: Gordon Ramsay and Marco-Pierre White



## mrs quoad (Jun 28, 2012)

Bleeehhhhh, what an utterly filthy week for cookery programmes.

First, El Nodrog _makes an authentic attempt at creating a financially viable commercial kitchen in Brixton Prison. _

And finds that he's got to play the 'nice bloke' and ask people to stop swearing. Gordon's conclusions: prisoners are basically lazy, and the problem with society is that prison is like a holiday camp. But the more inventive ones can decorate a cupcake.


Now, fuck only knows why I put this on, but MPW's Kitchen Wars. Good god, this is embarrassing. He's walking around waggling a kitchen knife for stage effect, which he's pointing at everyone and everything whilst being a total dick about anything he can realistically be a staggeringly arrogant total dick about.


Anyone else?

This is properly depressing TV.


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## purenarcotic (Jun 29, 2012)

The Gordon Ramsey thing was disgusting.  He was so demeaning about their kick offs every time their routine changed, he couldn't understand that their routine is hugely important to them.  It was an interesting exercise in watching how prison institutionalises people and how cunts like Ramsey couldn't give a shite.

Kitchen wars is cringeworthy.


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## Badgers (Jun 29, 2012)

It would be funny if they were actors not prisoners or something.


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## Sweet FA (Jun 29, 2012)

Ramsay comes across as a colossal cunt in this guardian interview...

Ramsay's brother Ronnie is a lifelong heroin addict who has been in and out of jail, where Ramsay has always refused to visit him, so I ask why. "Well, you know, wiping his arse in prison, I mean, how many chances do you give a guy?" The chef did put Ronnie into rehab at Clouds House in Wiltshire, though, and says, "Clouds is incredible – that setup there is just out of this world."
That's a surprise to hear, because he had written, "I hated Clouds. I hated everything about it."



Gah, I dunno, who knows the truth really? I've never liked his schtick though, so perhaps I'm just looking for reasons to dislike him further.


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## Dan U (Jun 29, 2012)

I went to the Taste Festival last weekend and Gordon Ramsay got quite a hard time by other Chefs at the cooking demonstrations. I got the distinct impression a lot of them all think he is a cunt as well. And a cunt who never visits his own restaurants or cooks anymore.


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## mrs quoad (Jun 29, 2012)

Sweet FA said:


> Ramsay comes across as a colossal cunt in this guardian interview...
> 
> Ramsay's brother Ronnie is a lifelong heroin addict who has been in and out of jail, where Ramsay has always refused to visit him, so I ask why. "Well, you know, wiping his arse in prison, I mean, how many chances do you give a guy?"



Yeah. He made a big thing of this when he first met the prisoners. 

Selling himself as 'authentic,' with 'personal experience,' 'I know what it's like,' etc, etc. All the better to drag them in and bludgeon them down.




> The chef did put Ronnie into rehab at Clouds House in Wiltshire, though, and says, "Clouds is incredible – that setup there is just out of this world."





> That's a surprise to hear, because he had written, "I hated Clouds. I hated everything about it."


Clouds is probably one of the top-reputation rehabs in the country. Same pricing level - I'd guess - as the Priory, with a solid reputation for working with dual diagnosis.

I'd guess 4-5 weeks - about 10 years ago - would've been £14-16k.

Though £ isn't the same as emotional investment, and - tbh - I'd guess that £14-16k is hardly the end of the world for El Nodrog.


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## mrs quoad (Jun 29, 2012)

Shit!

1:55, Partridge _predicts Ramsay's latest venture (!)_


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## DexterTCN (Jun 29, 2012)

Sweet FA said:


> Ramsay comes across as a colossal cunt in this guardian interview.....


Not really. If the interview was about the new tv series all the reporter is doing is dragging up the past. The pr woman is there because Ramsay has obviously learned that he needs someone like that to rein in his big mouth.

Decca: I get the impression, I begin to say, that he has quite a history of feuds.
GR: Well, I think that's just part of the industry," he says dismissively. "Sport's the same." But he has clearly spent more time in court than the average businessman. "No, I disagree, I disagree.
Decca: Really? I cite one particular dispute with some customers who'd demanded a 50% reduction in their bill because....
GR: I didn't expect to sit here and talk about a fucking table cloth

'I wonder if that was partly why he chose to publish the infamous letter to his mother-in-law in a newspaper..., '


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## mrs quoad (Jun 29, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Not really. If the interview was about the new tv series all the reporter is doing is dragging up the past. The pr woman is there because Ramsay has obviously learned that he needs someone like that to rein in his big mouth.


He really doesn't. IMO.

He's fully in control, pretty much all the time. He plays the camera, and plays the people he's with, 100%.

I have no doubt that his aggressive _and _sweary 'anger' bouts are raw manufactured. Entirely for purposeful intimidation and / or good tv and / or stage effect.

If you doubt that for one second, take a look at the latest prison thing - suddenly Gordon's a little pinnacle of sunshine, politeness and light. Now he's around people who might _actually _fight back, his 'uncontrollable' temper is 100% controlled. He's the one moderating fights. He's the one trying to calm things down.

Look at something like Kitchen Nightmares, too, and the outrage and anger follows a 100% predictable plot curve. Every. Single. Time.

'Sympathy' directed towards the 1 or 2 people he needs 'onside'; so's he can direct a more overwhelming onslaught of 'fury' and 'disappointment' against his chosen 'failures'. His solutions and responses are absolutely stock, as are the things that 'work' 95% of the time. But the anger and outbursts - 100% good tv and / or plot development.

He knows how to 'play' anger. And has learnt that crossing 'acceptable' boundaries gets certain results. But his 'big mouth' is - IMO - 100% in control, pretty much all the time.


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## Sweet FA (Jun 29, 2012)

@ Dexter

Yeah, I'm not sure, that's why I added the caveat at the end. And I didn't see the programme either, so perhaps he's a top bloke and I'm being a judgemental bastard, played by the media. Still, he's a celeb so I _must_ judge him


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## ringo (Jun 29, 2012)

Interesting to see more of Brixton nick, but Ramsey once again proved himself to be a nasty bit of work.


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## DexterTCN (Jun 29, 2012)

mrs quoad said:


> He really doesn't. IMO.
> 
> He's fully in control, pretty much all the time. He plays the camera, and plays the people he's with, 100%. *(he just destroyed his reputation in Australia by shooting off his mouth with no minder)*
> 
> ...


I disagree.


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## mrs quoad (Jun 29, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> I disagree.


OK - the Australian incident looks like him being a dick / sense of humour failure, though, rather than uncontrolled anger?

So, yeah, big mouth failure; but in a different direction.

wrt "*no-one has a vested interested in taking his abuse" *in prison - yeah, exactly. And suddenly he doesn't get angry. Which suggests that his violence and anger is purposeful, intentional and considered; rather than spontaneous, uncontrolled, and expressive.

Likewise, that many chefs are like that in the kitchen doesn't mean that Ramsay isn't _intentionally _'playing' anger, for personal gain. Or that some / all of those chefs aren't, tbh.


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## DexterTCN (Jun 29, 2012)

Not _really_ disagreeing with you - I was disagreeing with the idea that the grauniad article showed him as a cunt, I think it portrayed him as one and went after him from the start.   That's not even to say he isn't a cunt - whoever wrote the article is, though.


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## IC3D (Jun 29, 2012)

I went unavoidably to a Gordon Ramsey restaurant once when very skint and struggled to hide my feelings of fear and resentment looking at the menu but to my great pleasure only a fraction of things were on and they fucked that up so much after I turned on the indignant righteousness I paid twenty notes for a lot of prosecco and some bland food. It was a great night in the end.


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## DexterTCN (Jun 29, 2012)

IC3D said:


> I went unavoidably to a Gordon Ramsey restaurant once when very skint and struggled to hide my feelings of fear and resentment looking at the menu but to my great pleasure only a fraction of things were on and they fucked that up so much after I turned on the indignant righteousness I paid twenty notes for a lot of prosecco and some bland food. It was a great night in the end.


I'm glad that's cleared up. 

eta..sounded sarcastic because I didn't see you got a big reduction, nice one.


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## renegadechicken (Jun 29, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> I disagree.


 
Hmm that still looks like he thought public opinion would be on his side and he only apologised when it clearly wasn't IMO.
I mean he went to the trouble of photoshopping a 'pig picture' of her - hardly out of control.


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## purenarcotic (Jun 29, 2012)

IC3D said:


> I went unavoidably to a Gordon Ramsey restaurant once when very skint and struggled to hide my feelings of fear and resentment looking at the menu but to my great pleasure only a fraction of things were on and they fucked that up so much after I turned on the indignant righteousness I paid twenty notes for a lot of prosecco and some bland food. It was a great night in the end.


 
My mum went to his restaurant once and got food poisoning.  She threatened them with environmental health, so they offered her a free meal and wine with every course.  She took it, ate the meal and then made a quiet call to environmental health.


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## DaveCinzano (Jun 29, 2012)

purenarcotic said:


> My mum went to his restaurant once and got food poisoning.  She threatened them with environmental health, so they offered her a free meal and wine with every course.  She took it, ate the meal and then made a quiet call to environmental health.



SHUT IT DOOOOWNN!!!


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## dilute micro (Jun 29, 2012)

Why does everybody hate Ramsey?  He's not a bad guy at all.  He's got heart and a passion for food.  From what I've seen he's down to earth and someone you could relate to if you happened to talk with him about dinner.


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## Wolveryeti (Jun 29, 2012)

Rubbish - he's a sociopathic rubber-faced shitcunt. 

And Marco Pierre White made him cry.

LOL


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## purenarcotic (Jun 29, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> SHUT IT DOOOOWNN!!!


 
They have subsequently lost their michelin star, so small steps.


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## wtfftw (Jun 29, 2012)

No one else tried watching the Marco Pierre White show? It's on five and sponsored by lidl and it's shit. haha.


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## Badgers (Jun 30, 2012)

Sweet FA said:
			
		

> Gah, I dunno, who knows the truth really? I've never liked his schtick though, so perhaps I'm just looking for reasons to dislike him further.



Ask the paid actors who are pretending to be prisoners.


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## dilute micro (Jun 30, 2012)

Wolveryeti said:


> Rubbish - he's a sociopathic rubber-faced shitcunt.
> 
> And Marco Pierre White made him cry.
> 
> LOL


 
It was probably chopped onions.


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## mrs quoad (Jul 10, 2012)

SO, having shown off his criminals' culinary excellence by producing butternut squash soup, perfect beef wellington, and summat else, he's now going to get them to produce:

*one dish*

Treacle slices on a biscuit base. For a mass market.

Every morning, treacle slices.

On a biscuit base.

Branded 'bad boys bakery.'

Aaaaa.


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## DexterTCN (Jun 4, 2013)

Did anyone see last night's Kitchen Nightmares?   Unbelievable...the worst people I've ever seen.  All over twitter and fb too, my daughter tells me.

Brilliant telly


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## Part 2 (Jun 5, 2013)

I'd read about this a few weeks ago. I don't see it that much but when I have it always seems to be families/couple who make the mistake of going into business together.

She was mad alright but Ramsay can hardly call anyone out for over-exaggerating. I think the stuff I've read she's been back online defending herself, playing the victim. I'd love to see how this program is made and edited. The husband seemed to be having a few moments of clarity when he challenged her about the number of staff they've gone through, as if realising it's a gamble that isn't paying off. I can see him ending up back in the casino.


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## D'wards (Jun 5, 2013)

I have a feeling they may play up to the image now, judging by the reasons people seem to go there. Gotta keep the customer satisfied, as Simon and Garfunkel pointed out in the 60's

http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/amys-baking-company-scottsdale


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