Singapore’s craze for Hello Kitty and N95 masks were overshadowed last week when locals formed snaking queues for another reason: The opportunity to see British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay in the flesh and taste his food.
While Gordon was trumped 2-1 by Singapore hawkers in the cook-off organized by SingTel, the publicity stunt was a win for everyone involved, and certainly the man himself.
A disclaimer: I’m a fan of Gordon’s television shows, from Masterchef to Hell’s Kitchen to Kitchen Nightmares.
His mastery of the culinary arts is certainly a treat in itself, but he has much more to share in terms of management, business, and branding — skills which were put into practice in over 20 restaurants he opened under Gordon Ramsay Holdings.
The chef’s success has given him every right to be arrogant, with his temper, bossiness, and colorful, profanity-laced insults on full display in his television shows.
Which was why those who were barely familiar with Gordon were surprised by his toned-down demeanor in Singapore:
Some choice quotes from the interview:
“I’ve lived and trained in France with some of the best chefs in the world. We have street food like hot dogs, burgers and the odd taco van, but we don’t have street food quite as unique as this.”
“And even after winning three Michelin stars, they still kicked my arse!”
“But to see the generosity and the way they treated me inside their hawker stalls…and I am the disruption, I am the one turning their little world upside down, and being a pain in their arse. And to see them still teach me how to do their food, it is just humbling. Forget the corporate stuff, forget the sponsors. This is about them.”
A few observations about his Singapore blitzkrieg:
1) Gordon adopts a slightly different demeanor when he’s in Asia.
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