Gordon Ramsey Versailles

Gordon Ramsey is continuing to expand his empire around the globe but he may have bitten off more than he can chew with his latest venture by opening a restaurant in one of the most prestigious places in France, the palace of Versailles. After a few years of rapid expansion Ramsey's restaurants can now be found in such far flung places as Dubai, New York, Dublin and Tokyo. Most of the restaurants have been a massive success with only The London in New York coming under pressure with the opening being delayed and restaurant reviewers being mixed. Overall the restaurants have been a success and even though Ramsey himself spends minimal time in each one the level of service and the quality of food have remained high enough to ensure they have received excellent reviews and made Ramsay's pockets deeper.

I have a feeling though that taking on the French in their own back garden could possibly be the biggest mistake he has ever made. See the French are a peculiar bunch and I can guarantee you that if there is one thing that will really piss them off and boycott a restaurant it will be an English chef coming into a sacred palace and aiming to take on their own chefs in the race for 3 prestigious Michelin stars.

I am a huge fan of Ramsey but I really do think he is making a move that he will regret for a long time by trying to move into France. I have worked in the French Alps as a head chef for 6 months in the past and believe me the French do not take kindly to foreigners, especially "les Rosbeef" as the affectionately call the English, coming into their country and trying to beat them at the profession they are best known for! I personally think Ramsey is doing it more for PR reasons and to raise his profile further rather than for pure culinary reasons.

As I said I am a massive Ramsey fan but if he succeeds with this one I would be very surprised indeed! When the French kick him out with his tail between his legs don't say i didn't tell you so!

French Food to be protected by UN

A farcical notion has emerged from France The French president Nckolas Sarkozy wants la cuisine française to be listed by Unesco, the UN agency, as part of the world’s cultural heritage. Now I do agree that they have contributed a large amount to world cuisine over the last couple of hundred years with great chefs like Escoffier inventing some of the great culinary dishes that we now take for granted. The French have not only contributed fantastic dishes but they also have also pioneered ways of producing ingredients that have raised the bar around the world. Just take fois gras for example, a standard in any fine dining restaurant around the world and 100% French in its history, current production methods and probably in the way it is served.

Nobody is doubting that the French have contributed so much to the food we eat today and the way it is prepared but to grant them protection under Unesco is a silly idea. I see it as a problem for the French themselves on two different fronts...

1.They are basically admitting that the food they have created is of great historical importance which means that it won't evolve as it has done. If you set very rigid ways of producing food into laws then you lose the reason it reached that level in the first place which was constant tinkering and evolution to ensure we ended up with the best product available after trial and error.

2.The French have been fighting a losing battle for 10 years now to remain as the most exciting and innovative country with regard to food and by signing up to this they have effectively lost the battle. New countries around the world are taking up the mantle and producing innovative food just as the French used to and they are not looking for any certification, quite simply the proof is in the pudding!

This sounds like a call to voters rather than sensible policy to me and I am sure that the arrogant French will lap this up and Sarkozy will gain the additional popularity he craves. I just think you should let the food do the talking rather than have some bigwig 1000s miles away certify food that we already know is amazing by quite simply placing it into our mouths!

World's Best Food Country (2nd Place)

2nd Place France

5th Place, South Africa
4th Place, Spain
3rd Place, America

I don't think there was ever a doubt that France would make it into this list but the fact that the strong favourite has been beaten into second place is a real turn up for the books.
When you think of good food France is probably one of the first countries that springs to mind and if it were not for the quality of our winner France would certainly have taken home the honours! I could go on about the reasons why France didn't win but I personally think there is more value on focusing on it's merits and with an entry of this quality there are no shortage of those!I've been lucky enough to spend a lot of time in France and it is clearly evident that the people live for their food. What i love the most is their culture of food and their respect for the value of the local artisan producers. In a world that seems to be obsessed with bigger and cheaper supermarkets and with bulk buying it takes a stubborn group of people to ignore the lure of the cheap quick fix but the French seem to be fighting their corner well! Don't get me wrong, you will still find plenty of big supermarkets in France including Carrefour, one of the world's biggest but the French would never allow their small local food suppliers to be treated as they are elsewhere in the world. This passion for food manifests itself all the way through the supply chain and I can say with some confidence that French produce on a whole is the best I have ever seen. Chefs (and France has the best standard of these in the world) can only be as good as the produce you give them and in Frane they have the best selection of truffles, fois gras, chicken, game, vegetables, seafood, cheeses, breads and every other kind of ingredient you care to name.

What I love the most about france is that it really doesn't matter if you are in a local bistro or a 3 star michelin restaurant, you will be guarenteed to be served great food at a modest price. Top that all off with some of the world's best wine and a surly french waiter and what more could you possibly ask for!