With the glitzy launch of Maze Grill Hong Kong behind him and a new Bread Street Kitchen planned for The Peak in 2019, the British celebrity chef has just a few more things he wants to achieve in his lifetime
Presented by Asia Miles
The sudden downpour on the Wednesday before launch has thrown off a few things at Maze Grill, with the team left wondering if—and praying that—the rainclouds would dissipate before the evening’s planned opening party. Inside the Harbour City restaurant, cables and AV equipment are strewn about, staff and crew manoeuvring around each other in a flurry of activity. The beautiful, expansive deck that looks out over Victoria Harbour is devoid of people and the usual furnishings, the city skyline barely visible through the pouring rain. Back inside, standing tall and prepared in a crisp white chef’s jacket, is Gordon Ramsay, joking wryly about it all feeling a little too much like England out there. It's hard to believe that just the evening before, Ramsay was out there enjoying the waterside vista, posing for photos and meeting with his fans—from young children to veteran actors—at a special members' dinner organised by Asia Miles.
With the weather small talk—a tendency that seems hardcoded into Brit DNA—out of the way, he snaps into efficiency mode. We’ve got 20 minutes—half an hour at best—to drill down on the how’s and why’s of Ramsay’s latest opening in Hong Kong, and he gets through his photoshoot at an accelerated pace before spending a lightning moment schooling the video crew on the quickest way to mic himself up. He’s ready. Let’s go. Go. The room is attentive—two parts reverential and one part wary, terrified of messing up (or F-ing up, more accurately) in front of the famously fiery chef. No one, after all, wants to be branded the idiot sandwich of the day.