March 31, 2008

Europe | France | Paris

Pardon His French

By Karena Akhavein

Gordon Ramsay crowns himself the new king of Versailles.

view map

It’s handy Gordon Ramsay is opening a new eatery at Heathrow’s T5 this week: he’s about to become a frequent flyer to France. Following French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s request for UNESCO to recognize French food as a World Heritage treasure, the chef hopes to add Gordon Ramsay at Trianon to his war chest of Michelin stars (and overtake Gallic gastronome Alain Ducasse as the world’s most starred chef). In a fit of culinary patriotism, Ramsay’s fine-dining room — opening tomorow at the handsomely refurbished Trianon Palace Hotel and Spa in Versailles — will literally bring English food to France.

“I’ve had a bellyful of the French coming over and telling us how s*** our food is,” Ramsay ranted recently. Perhaps the F word-happy F-Word star was traumatized while training in Paris in his 20s. Either way, he plans to introduce the French to the joys of “venison from Balmoral, our wonderful Aberdeen Angus steak, and our f****** mussels and oysters from South Ireland.” Having just opened Maze in Prague, his empire now reaches 12 restaurants (as many as his beloved Michelin stars), though his Versailles outpost will be helmed by chef Simone Zanoni, who has survived worked with Ramsay for 10 years. Let’s just hope he doesn’t lose his head — like former Versailles resident Marie Antoinette.