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Ramsay takes cooking to the ‘ Next Level’
Gordon Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef ” is moving up for Season 2 after the multifloor reality cooking show’s season premiere received a megaboost following Fox’s broadcast of the Super Bowl.
Now Ramsay, 56, and his team of upand- coming chefs will fight to stay on the top floor on the “Next Level” ( Thursdays, 8 EST/ PST) – battling against teams fielded by chef mentors Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais.
“Hell’s Kitchen” and “MasterChef ” star Ramsay, who has traveled the world in his NatGeo docuseries “Uncharted,” continues to expand his restaurant empire, opening Gordon Ramsay’s Fish & Chips in New York City’s Times Square in December.
He spoke to USA TODAY about kitchen fire tips and cutting down on his infamous profanity.
The ‘ Next Level’ scrum for ingredients is intense
“Next Level Chef ” teams fight for the top floor where there are superior cooking tools. The quality only goes down on the mid- level and gnarly basement, the latter of which has blunt knives and decrepit equipment.
Top- floor contestants also earn first dibs for the ingredients, delivered to each level by the dropping dumbwaiter.
“There’s that moment of panic where they’ve got literally 30 seconds to grab ingredients, so it gets very robust and football- like in there,” says Ramsay.
The dumbwaiter is picked over before hitting the bottom level.
In last season’s Episode 9, “the dumbwaiter was so sparse at the basement. All that was left was basically powdered mashed potatoes and canned tomatoes. We were screwed,” says Ramsay. “But I was blown away when one of my chefs made amazing powderedsmashed gnocchi.”
There are ‘ Next Level’ injuries and Ramsay handled pan flames
In the season opener, one chef sliced his finger while dicing, and former NFL cornerback Mark MacMillan made a rookie chef mistake starting a raging pan fire. Ramsay doused the flames after carrying the pan away with his “Teflon hands.”
“I got a little burn. That’s part of being a prolific chef, I have burn marks from 20 years ago. I have no eyebrows, they’re always singed,” says Ramsay, who says inexperienced chefs sometimes blow on fire. “That’s the worst ... thing to do, give the fire oxygen. So I just calmly step in, pick up the pan and keep everybody safe.”
Ramsay is less fiery, cuts down on TV swearing
Famed for his frequent swearing and caustic manner, the Simon Cowell of TV chefs is calmer and has a ( mostly) family- friendly vocabulary on his newest Fox show.
“I can’t afford to lose it,” says Ramsay. “With ‘ Hell’s Kitchen’- level professionals, I can lose ( it) because they should know better. But it’s different when you’ve got a social- media chef used to GoPro filming in an apartment. You have to be smart.”
But the spirit is there even if the swears aren’t.
“I’m competitive and don’t like losing,” says Ramsay, who adds that in this season’s semifinal, he melts down after a “colossal” chef mistake. “That will either need bleeps or subtitles to understand. It was frantic.”
The trash talk about Richard Blais’ hair will continue
Ramsay promises to continue teasing the big- haired Blais, whose fan- beloved flip- over hairstyle is even more pronounced this season.
“Richard and I are on each other’s case, trust me. The good news is that he’s continued to grow it. It’s like 12 inches now on the top, as opposed to 6,” says Ramsay, who insists he doesn’t touch his own spiked hair. “I wake up, go with what it looks like and get on with it.”
Ramsay: Fiennes snubbed by Oscars for ‘ The Menu’ chef role
Ramsay advised Bradley Cooper for his role as a Michelin- caliber chef in 2015’ s “Burnt,” but didn’t assist Ralph Fiennes for the English actor’s lauded role as a disturbed chef in “The Menu.”
Ramsay loved Fiennes’ performance in the “cracking” food horror film. “He really captured the mental challenge chefs have,” he says, adding he was “annoyed” Fiennes was not nominated for an Oscar. “He certainly should have been for such a brilliant performance.”
Ramsay was petrified of Adele- forced Vegas singing
Ramsay is still dealing with Adele aftershocks after catching the British songstress’ Las Vegas residency in November. He Instagram- posted the moment the singer approached him midsong and accepted a kiss on her cheek.
“The production values and acoustics were off the charts. I was worried, for her, that she was going to drop the microphone in front of my mouth and ask me to sing.” says Ramsay. “So when we held hands and she kissed me, I thought, ‘ Thank God!’ ”