Gordon Ramsay: Lockdown shut bad restaurants taking advantage of good locations

Covid lockdowns have eliminated bad restaurants taking advantage of their “prime locations”, Gordon Ramsay said.

The celebrity chef said the past two years have been “devastating” for the hospitality industry – but said the upside is “the crap’s gone” now.

Asked if he meant any particular chains, the 55-year-old told the Radio Times: “Well, just shitholes in a prime position and taking advantage because they’re in a great location and they’ve got the footfall.

“But now we’ve wiped the slate clean, which is good.”

Ramsay said he now expects there to be permanent changes to the food industry, such as a boost in quality.

He added: “Customers have got so much smarter in the last two years. They know a lot more about food than they ever have done and have been making their own sourdough, so it’s taught everyone (in the restaurant industry) to raise their game.

“Raise. Your. Game. It’s wiped the arrogance from the industry.”

Ramsay also defended his lockdown trip to his home in Cornwall, saying it gave him cherished time with his children.

He said: “God knows why we took so much shit from the Cornish.

“We lived down there; we just hadn’t been down there for a long time. We didn’t sneak down there at all.

“We got there at an appropriate time and had an absolutely amazing time. And a time like that – we’ll never get back again.

“When the kids started disappearing again, I didn’t want it to end – as a dad, not a chef.”

Asked if he might follow in his daughter Tilly’s footsteps on to the Strictly Come Dancing dance floor, he said: “No chance. I’ve got size 15 feet and they were not made for a dance floor, let me tell you.

“They asked me to do a Christmas special with Gino D’Acampo and Fred Sirieix.

“I would love to do it, though. Secretly, I’d love to do it. I’ve always wanted to dance. There’s something so gorgeous about the rumba, the samba, the foxtrot, the tango…

“I don’t know. I may ask the BBC if I could do it next year. Tilly would kill me, by the way. But the only bit I’d be slightly nervous about is all the tight lycra, sequins and the trousers.”

The full interview with Ramsay is in the Radio Times, out now.