Gordon Ramsay and a London Eater writer engaged in a battle this past week about her review of his new concept Lucky Cat. The Eater food writer, Angela Hui, called the concept “an actual kitchen nightmare”. She posted live from the media event on Instagram Stories and Gordon Ramsay proceeded to “call her out” afterwards for supposedly attacking his chef and his wife (choosing to twist her words), turning his entire 7 million+ strong base on social media into attack dogs that went after the writer. She was also confronted at the event by servers who were watching her posts.
The quality of the followers he has can best be shown in this comment I received after commenting on his post:
There’s so many issues here. First of all, as a celebrity chef award-winner it is irresponsible to use your platform to attack writers and journalists. When we look deeper this is also an attack on a person of color in an industry where people of color are far and few between and regularly cast aside.
Angela Hui is actually Asian and from a purely public relations point-of-view, Gordon Ramsay attacking the only Asian guest who was at his restaurant preview because she didn’t like his food and was understandably upset about being marginalized as the only Asian guest in a room is tone-deaf on his part.
Gordon Ramsay is rich and successful. He has numerous television shows and a career that isn’t going anywhere. There was no reason for Gordon to take a dig at a young writer. If anything, Gordon’s approach to this situation actually comes off as trying to silence critics and tell people of color that he really doesn’t care what they think and that he is going to take their culture’s food and not even consider what they think in the name of profits.
Gordon Ramsay has plenty of resources. He could empower Asian chefs, invite more Asian members of the media to his previews, seek feedback from the Asian community, there were plenty of way that Gordon Ramsay could have handled this media preview that he chose not to do. Instead – Gordon Ramsay created a worldwide meltdown and fiasco that showed no lack of real concern for the very people whose cuisine his restaurant seeks to sell.
I am convinced that Gordon Ramsay does not have a PR person and if he does, they probably also had a meltdown this past weekend. I know I would be.
Angela’s experience was more than a review, there was a way that Gordon Ramsay made her feel at his event that is unwelcome. Media guests should never be made to feel unwelcome. It is up to the host to make an environment that is inviting for guests and balances and takes in considerations. It is not that hard if you simply care a little bit about others.
Gordon Ramsay has television shows where he literally fixes restaurants like this. It is not hard Gordon. It is not a journalist’s job to give you positive feedback and when someone gives negative feedback, it is not your job as a restaurateur to fight back and enter a fiasco with the writer. Your job is to seek to understand where they are coming from and move on.
Clearly Gordon does not get it. No one is saying that you cannot make an Asian restaurant without being Asian, what they are saying is that you should be respectful of the culture of others and run your business better with consideration of the culture you are making a profit off of. You have enough money to hire someone to help you with this and do it right.
