The minute you start compromising for the sake of massaging somebody’s ego, that’s it, game over.

We are about creating a new wave of talent. We are the Manchester United of kitchens now. Am I playing full-time in the kitchen? I am a player-coach.

If I can give you one strong piece of advice, when you go away for that romantic weekend, whatever you do, do not accept or take the upgrade to the honeymoon suite.

I grew up in a funny way.

I’ve had a lot of success; I’ve had failures, so I learn from the failure.

My father was a swim teacher. We used to swim before school, swim after school.

As a soccer player, I wanted an FA Cup winner’s medal. As an actor you want an Oscar. As a chef it’s three-Michelin’s stars, there’s no greater than that. So pushing yourself to the extreme...

I was a naturally aggressive left-back, a cut-throat tackler.

I don’t think it’s a good advert for any restaurant, a fat chef, and secondly, who wants to eat a dessert when the chef’s a fat pig.

You know how arrogant the French are – extraordinary.

I’d like to think I’m a great teacher.

No one saw the recession coming.

Cooking is about passion, so it may look slightly temperamental in a way that it’s too assertive to the naked eye.

I’ve got nothing to hide.

Chefs are nutters. They’re all self-obsessed, delicate, dainty, insecure little souls and absolute psychopaths. Every last one of them.

I am a grafter.

I swim like a fish and I have an amazing kick.

Find what’s hot, find what’s just opened and then look for the worst review of the week. There is so much to learn from watching a restaurant getting absolutely panned and having a bad experience....

The pressure on young chefs today is far greater than ever before in terms of social skills, marketing skills, cooking skills, personality and, more importantly, delivering on the plate. So you need to be strong....

Running started as a way of relaxing. It’s the only time I have to myself. No phones or e-mails or faxes.

Swearing is industry language. For as long as we’re alive it’s not going to change. You’ve got to be boisterous to get results.

I came up from a difficult background.

When you cook under pressure you trade perfection.

There is a level of snobbery and fickleness in L.A.

There’s a bond among a kitchen staff, I think. You spend more time with your chef in the kitchen than you do with your own family.

Would I swap what I have achieved as a cook if I could have been as successful as a footballer? Definitely.

My wife, a schoolteacher, very disciplined. If you think I’m tough, trust me, and wait till you see when the children are on the naughty step. It’s hilarious. So we decided that I’m going to...

I hid myself in food.

I suppose your security is your success and your key to success is your fine palate.

I think every chef, not just in America, but across the world, has a double-edged sword – two jackets, one that’s driven, a self-confessed perfectionist, thoroughbred, hate incompetence and switch off the stove, take off...

I don’t run restaurants that are out of control. We are about establishing phenomenal footholdings with talent.

I’ve never been a hands-on dad. I’m not ashamed to admit it, but you can’t run a restaurant and be home for tea at 4:30 and bath and change nappies.

I didn’t get depressed, I don’t get depressed.

I’m not critic-proof, and I still take it personally, but I take it less personally now.

I train my chefs completely different to anyone else. My young girls and guys, when they come to the kitchen, the first thing they get is a blindfold. They get blindfolded and they get sat...

The problem with Yanks is they are wimps.

I act on impulse and I go with my instincts.

I mean, families are weird.

Cooking today is a young man’s game, I don’t give a bollocks what anyone says.

When you find a guy who is powerful, a big father figure, you latch onto him immediately.

It’s very hard when you eat out every day for a living, and a new restaurant comes along and you haven’t got that same vigour that you had 10 years ago.

Kitchens are hard environments and they form incredibly strong characters.

I want my kids to see me as Dad, for God’s sake, not a television personality.

I am a chef who happens to appear on the telly, that’s it.

If I relaxed, if I took my foot off the gas, I would probably die.

They say cats have nine lives. I’ve had 12 already and I don’t know how many more I’ll have.

I still love football, though, and I think cooking is like football. It’s not a job, it’s a passion. When you become good at it, it’s a dream job and financially you need never to...

I won’t let people write anything they want to about me.

I don’t like looking back. I’m always constantly looking forward. I’m not the one to sort of sit and cry over spilt milk. I’m too busy looking for the next cow.

I’m Gordon Ramsay, for goodness sake: people know I’m volatile.