Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Chef reflects on turning 50, LV
Las Vegas has become Gordon Ramsay’s second home:
Feisty, often combative and controversial celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay isn’t slowing down as he gets closer to his 50th birthday in November. But he does admit that he has a lot more patience these days, and, although he has no plans to cut back on his Iron Man triathlon runs, he confesses that it’s taking much longer to recover from them.
When we talked at the Caesars Palace 50th Anniversary gala celebrations last weekend, it was obvious that two creaky, aging Brits would talk about the vanishing decades. “You know there was a time when I didn’t even think I’d make it to 50,” Gordon confessed to me.
“At age 33, I was under extreme mental pressure. I had a TV crew filming a documentary of me wanting to win my third Michelin star. Somebody very close to me sat me down and said, ‘Young man, learn to delegate. Otherwise, you’re going to kill yourself.
‘The way you go at people and small situations, you will have a heart attack and die.’ I told him that I was on a mission, and he fired back, ‘I understand that mission, but once you’ve got it, slow down to stay alive.’ So the most dangerous time of my life was at 33 years of age.
“Problem is that I’m not good at slowing down and certainly no good at stopping. I feel fitter now, Robin, at 49 than I did at 39. I’m in one of the fittest years of my life. My wife loves that!
“My mother celebrated her 70th birthday two days ago, and she’s coming to Las Vegas next month. You listen to her because she says let’s enjoy today because you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
I asked Gordon if he was going to stop attempting his triathlons or at least cut down on them now that he’s turning 50: “It takes much longer to recover. I’m not getting any younger, so I’m not ever going to be faster. Mentally, though, I’m a lot stronger, and I want to continue raising money for charity helping and changing lives.
“I’m blessed with that position in life to do that. I raise a substantial amount of money for charity. So we’re very blessed and lucky, especially to have four healthy kids. So for me it’s not about what am I putting my body through. It’s about what I’m raising. That’s the only way I look at it until someone says, ‘Hey, Gordon, stop!’ ”
Incredibly, Gordon has planned an 85-mile endurance bike ride here in September: “I just had surgery on my Achilles. Nine weeks ago, I was chasing my son in the garden and fell. I was in surgery 24 hours later. I only took the boot off five days ago, and I’m still limping. It’s going to slow me down a touch, but I’ve still got my palate. I can close my eyes and identify 20 ingredients within 30 seconds, but slow down? No!
“I talked to my executive chef today from Fish & Chips at The Linq Promenade. He and I have planned an 85-mile bike ride in September. He told me we have to be on the road by 5:30 a.m. in order to be back at the restaurant at 10:30 a.m. I’m thinking that’s superfast, but he’s built like a greyhound, so I will just have to keep up with him.”
Gordon’s new Fish & Chips at The Linq will open by the end of September. “We had our first big tasting today. Another tasting tomorrow, then tweak some things. We’ll hand it over in about four weeks and then hopefully go live around the end of September.
“I love it here. It’s an extraordinary playing field. To be part of the food phenomenon here, I couldn’t be happier”