Travel buddies
Ramsay takes scenic route through Europe with celebrity pals
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay (“Hell’s Kitchen”) has spent more than two decades of television appearances building his reputation as a prickly, potty-mouthed Brit. Naturally, he has expanded his TV hosting empire beyond the borders of food into travel, and this time he has brought two of his buddies along for the ride.
The new special “Gordon Ramsay’s Road Trip: European Vacation,” airing Monday, Dec. 13, on Fox, follows Ramsay and his companions — French service industry expert and host of “Million Pound Menu” Fred Sirieix and Italian celebrity chef and “I’m a Celebrity...get Me Out of Here” winner Gino D’acampo — as they take a road trip around Europe.
Along the way, the three welltraveled hosts make some eventful stops in their respective homelands. D’acampo shows Ramsay and Sirieix what Naples’ markets have to offer before they pack up for his friend’s vow renewal on the nearby island of Sardinia. In France, Sirieix is responsible for hosting the very first oyster festival in the seaside town of Arcachon, and has brought along some help in the form of top chefs Ramsay and D’acampo. Ramsay, meanwhile, who was born in Scotland, brings his two travel buddies with him to cook for the chief of Clan Ramsay — they also, of course, take part in Ceres’ Highland Games while there.
The three gregarious hosts each show off just how an eventful feast is done in three beautiful — very different — countries, with some healthy competition between them. Each known for being big personalities in their own right, combined they make a team ripe for misadventure.
Sitting down on “The Jonathan Ross Show,” a late-night British TV staple, to discuss filming the series, host Ross wanted to know what Sirieix learned “about food from these guys [Ramsay and D’acampo], that you didn’t already [know].” Sirieix responds that the two chefs have very “different philosophies,” explaining, “Gordon [Ramsay] is always faster, higher, bigger, and Gino [D’acampo] is minimum effort, maximum satisfaction.”
Never one to hold back, Ramsay adds that D’acampo is “lazy,” however it’s all clearly just friendly ribbing among close friends, competitors and travel comrades. And “close” may be an understatement, from what Ramsay revealed in that same “Jonathan Ross Show” interview.
After eviscerating D’acampo for his lackluster camper-van driving skills along the Italian leg of their journey, Ramsay shared a story of the night he awoke to find the Italian chef cuddling him during an overnight stay in the vehicle. D’acampo logically explains to the audience that he “was scared,” while Ross felt the need to ask the trio, “Have the three of you thought about relationship counseling?”
Ramsay is certainly no stranger to the world of culinary travel. In his National Geographic series “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted,” the celebrity chef treks solo all over the world, met by guides in each locale, and getting his hands dirty while learning about unique regional cuisines and ingredients. He has explored high-altitude cooking in Peru’s beautiful Sacred Valley and received a lesson in harvesting taro root by foot in Hawaii, to name just a couple of his knowledgeexpanding experiences.
In exchange for his one-of-a-kind experiences, the chef gives back with a lovely feast of thanks in each location, bringing his own style to a menu made with uniquely local ingredients. Often the most enjoyable part of the series is seeing the culinary authority try to get the knack of new (to him) methods and measures.
Ramsay is likely the best known of the “European Vacation” travelers this side of the pond, having made a splash with the American versions of his culinary TV shows “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Kitchen Nightmares,” which began airing in the mid-2000s.
While D‘acampo’s resume is a bit more varied, having hosted the game show “Gino’s Win Your Wish List” since 2018, he’s always kept a foot firmly planted in the food world (his most popular production is likely the docuseries “Gino’s Italian Escape”).
Sirieix, meanwhile, is best recognized by TV audiences for his appearances on the dating show “First Dates,” in which he offers his thoughts on romance while couples’ first dates are filmed. The maître d’hôtel is also active in charity work focused on equity between front-ofhouse and back-of-house workers in the service industry.
In other related news, Ramsay and Fox Entertainment announced this past August that they had partnered to create Studio Ramsay Global, which will produce lifestyle and food programming for Fox’s platforms. This deal expands Ramsay’s production company, Studio Ramsay, which is behind D‘acampo’s show “Gino’s Italian Family Adventure” and the upcoming Ramsay-hosted competition series “Next Level Chef,” premiering in January on Fox.
Delighted about the new venture, Ramsay said in a Fox news release, “I couldn’t be more excited about this new global partnership with Fox. After 16 incredible years [of] working together, this takes Studio Ramsay to the next level!”
Don’t miss Ramsay, D’acampo and Sirieix in the delicious special “Gordon Ramsay’s Road Trip: European Vacation” when it premieres Monday, Dec. 13, on Fox. And fans of the special can keep the action going with “Gordon Ramsay’s Road Trip: Christmas Vacation,” airing the following day.