"I owe a lot to Gordon Ramsay. Back in the period around the millennium while the U.K was going mad for Jamie Oliver’s simple dishes and Essex charm, a foul mouthed chef chasing three michelin stars was bringing the focus onto how life as a chef was in the real world. That man grabbed my attention. That man was Gordon Ramsay.Now of course Ramsay is the face of cooking on television sets across America and you have to say fair play to him. Building up a multi million pound empire of restaurants that stretches the breadth of the globe can’t have been easy, likewise attaining the trades ultimate accolade of three stars back in London. Who could begrudge Gordon for yelling at Americans for a large paycheck?Ramsay though isn’t the angry bully that some would have you believe him to be. I watched him do a live demonstration with sous-chef Mark Sargeant at The Good Food Show in Birmingham. Ramsay eclipsed all other chef’s at the venue and turned out to be a fun guy who enjoyed a laugh. His food wasn’t half bad either.Royal Hospital Road is the flagship restaurant of Gordon Ramsay. The very spot where the three star’s were won. Also the scene of the documentaries ‘Boiling Point’ and ‘Beyond Boiling Point’ which featured Ramsay’s pursuit of the top prize in cooking. Both of which are television gold and available to view on Youtube. We made our reservations quite easily online and timed it with my 29th birthday celebrations. Menu’s are all accessible online and due to the restaurant being a three star the chances of a menu changing is slim. All menu’s were priced very fairly for this part of London and looked incredibly inviting.A quick taxi from Sloane Square took us to the restaurant just as the doors were opening. With the Christmas decorations up outside it’s quite a small, intimate place but very stylish. We walked down a long corridor to the cloakroom area where the reservation was confirmed and our coats taken by the friendly staff. The staff then lead us into the dining room which was a lot smaller than I had envisioned.Straight away the familiar face of Maitre D Jean-Claude Breton arrived extending his hand and wishing me a happy birthday. The man oozes charm and class at the same time putting the guest at ease. It became like chatting to an old friend as we discussed France, rugby, football and food."
