Melbourne, Australia (06-06-09)
I got to watch Chef Gordon Ramsey in action very recently and I was very impressed by his actions that speak a lot louder than his words. A lot of people attack Chef Ramsey because he does have a foul mouth at times and they fail to see that for him it’s a part of the culture and where he’s from to speak in the fashion that he does. In my meeting with him, I found him to be very down to earth and friendly and even charming and passionate man that cares deeply for other people and I came away with a deep admiration for the man that he is.
At a recent Food and Wine convention, after speaking with Mr. Ramsey, I got to watch him work. There were hundreds of people lined up to get an autograph and as I stood to the side and thought to myself, “it must be tiring to stand and greet hundreds of people”, he worked tirelessly.
One young lady in a wheelchair showed up late and was off to the side of the cue and her eyes were lit up with excitement as she looked fondly over at Chef Ramsey. The security told the young lady she had to go and sit at the other side so she wasn’t at the exit where people left. The people in line continued to file past until just a few moments before Chef Ramsey had to leave for his scheduled cooking demonstration in the “Celebrity Theatre”. Unfortunately not everybody in the line got a chance at this time to have their books signed and Chef Ramsey started to leave and as he walked past the front of the cue, a lady in the line roughly grabbed his arm and I heard Gordon say, “I’m sorry but I have to go and speak to my most important fan.” And he pulled his arm away from her.
The young lady in the wheelchair turned to look behind her wondering who this “most important fan” was and while she was doing that, Chef Ramsey walked up to her and crouched down next to her. It suddenly dawned on her now that the Chef was speaking of her and a complete look of wonder and awe swept her face as she looked directly into the eyes of the infamous man whose books and television shows had brought her so much enjoyment as he asked her, “What is your name love?”
For the next two minutes, Chef Ramsey spoke with, “Felicity” and all eyes were on them as this transaction of communication took place during which he signed her book and commented on her choice of books, “Cooking for Friends”. Felicity said that it was her favorite book and I heard the Chef reply back that it was his also.
“I hid myself in food. “ Gordon Ramsay
Some people who work in “Food Service” do so because they have a passion for serving other people and Chef Gordon Ramsey displayed by his actions in front of me that he understood what this means. For the few moments that he shared with, “Felicity”, it would make a lifetime of meaning to her that he took the time to make sure this young lady knew just how important she was. I have no doubt that it meant more to “Felicity” then it did all the other people in the cue, you could tell just by looking into the beautiful smile that lit an entire convention centre.
It occurred to me that Mr. Ramsey “get’s it” and the fruits of his labor are the evidence as he elevated the spirit of this young lady simply by spending a moment of his time. In that sense more people should be as down to earth and caring as Chef Ramsey. After he signed her book, before they parted she told Chef Ramsey, “It was a pleasure meeting you Chef.” and he replied, “No, the pleasure was all mine.” The young lady in her wheelchair was beside herself and when the Chef walked off, she thanked all the security staff for arranging the meeting. She said, “You don’t know just how much that meant to me.” But I could tell by the look in the staffer’s eyes that he did…
It’s in the press that Gordon is arrogant and I can tell you by our conversation and watching him at the Food and Wine Festival that the things he said about other people were just jokes done to try and entertain people and while I personally don’t subscribe to his dry British humor, I understood he was just trying to funny.
Anybody that has watched his shows knows that he has brought dozens of people back from the brink of disaster and probably prevented thousands of cases of food poisoning by raising awareness, standards and in general, just plain common sense. I’ve seen firsthand that he has an honest desire to serve people by increasing self-confidence and pride in everyday jobs and I could only wish that more Christians took as much pride in making the world a better place as Chef Ramsey does.
He does get passionate and use explicit language when he sees people with practices that place their unknowing customers in literal mortal danger and had I eaten at some of the establishments he’s shown on television, I’d consider suing those people… but thank goodness the Chef does care and is passionate, we need more people like him that do care about the products being put out. The world would be a better place if more people shared his compassionate nature.
Shalom, *´¨) ¸.•´ ¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨) (¸.•´ (¸.• (Snow(.¸.•*´¨)
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. Barack Obama