Expletives aren't the way to win over the French, UK chef Tom Aikens has told Gordon Ramsay.
At a party celebrating ‘British creativity’ held by property magnate Richard Balfour, producer of Balfour Brut Rosé, at David Linley’s furniture shop Linley Belgravia, Aikens told decanter.com he thought the outspoken chef should have approached the famously prickly Parisians with slightly more tact.
‘He went about the subject in the wrong way using all those expletives and saying “I’m going to f***ing show the French”.’
As reported on decanter.com yesterday, Gordon Ramsay plans to open a restaurant in the Trianon Palace hotel, Paris, serving classic British cuisine.
‘Can he succeed in bringing British cuisine over to France? It depends what the French consider British cuisine and how far back they are thinking – they think curry is British.’
Aikens, whose eponymous restaurant in Chelsea has a Michelin star, is sceptical about Ramsay’s plans to impress the French with classic British dishes.
‘I don’t know if Gordon’s going to serve bubble and squeak and pork pies to the Parisians, but to me the essence of British food is simple home cooking like roast chicken and roast beef. I don’t know if that will work as haute cuisine.
‘He told me he wants to be the first chef to have three Michelin stars in London, New York and Paris at the same time. It’s a bold statement, and all I can say is good luck to him.’
Written by Lucy Shaw
