Ramsay is a ‘different guy' when he aims for perfection

ACCORDING to Gordon Ramsay, 80% of the feedback he has received in response to the fly-on-the-wall Channel 4 series, Ramsay's Boiling Point, has been positive.

Speaking at the conference, Ramsay told delegates that most people he had spoken to were "in awe and totally fascinated" by the six-part programme. "You get the 20% who want to take you out - but in the trade we know what goes on."

In a "live" interview with Chef editor Tessa Fox, which was peppered with expletives, Ramsay admitted that he was a "different guy" during service. "I don't know any better," he said. "I've been trained by the very best. But things are hugely different for me now - my name is above the door. Everything I touch has to be perfect."

Ramsay added that he had become fed up with production companies trying to plant "would-be chefs" in his restaurant in order to get a closer look at how he manages his kitchen.

"We have been haunted by Granada TV, and I will never be haunted again because I have done it myself on TV. There's no need to spy - I've opened the kitchen up myself."

When challenged about the strict working environment he creates for his kitchen, he responded by describing the violent training he himself had experienced and the difficulties he endured working in France. "A lot of cooks would not have enjoyed working in Paris [where he worked for Joâl Robuchon and Guy Savoy]. It was bloody hard - not just in the kitchen, but living there as well. Well, the French are such arrogant pigs," he said. "But you can understand their arrogance - they're perfectionists."

Despite the difficulties, Ramsay said he was glad to be one of the few British chefs to have worked for Robuchon before he retired.