Gordon Ramsay: Head Chef, Hell's Kitchen Season 9

Gordon Ramsay said it plainly: "The proof's in the pudding, and the proof's in the talent. I love it — it's a passion, it's heated, it's frustrating, it…" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.

Chef Gordon Ramsay returns for Season 9 of Hell's Kitchen on FOX, where 18 new aspiring chefs compete for a Head Chef position at BLT Steak in New York City. With Michelin stars across Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, Pétrus, and more — and television credits spanning Kitchen Nightmares, MasterChef, and The F Word — Ramsay spoke with Premier Guide Miami ahead of the July 18th premiere.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: At the end of the day, what do you get out of doing Hell's Kitchen?

GORDON RAMSAY: Talent, I suppose — that's what it is at the end of the day. Over the last three days it's been a tough climate; everyone's cooking more, not just professionally but personally, so the actual show gets better. I continue running a restaurant, and I think more than ever before — because we've had quite a long gap since the last Hell's Kitchen was on — we've got some extraordinary chefs in the mix. Cooking shows are not slowing down. We pushed the menu out in a completely different direction this time and really upped the ante as well. I like the challenge and I like finding talent. That's what really turns me on, I suppose.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: One meal that you'd love a chef to cook for you?

GORDON RAMSAY: I'm a big lover of fish. Cooking fish is so much more difficult than cooking protein meats, because there are no temperatures — no medium, rare, well done — when cooking a stunning sea bass or a scallop. I had the most amazing fish yesterday with pasta pappardelle, and it was just cooked to perfection. Fish, one temperature, crispy skin, sweet, and absolutely cooked to perfection. So I'm always putting the chefs to the test: cook me some fish, please.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Do you eat out? And are you very critical when you do?

GORDON RAMSAY: I love eating out — I don't deny that. But I don't want 12 or 15 courses because the chef wants me to taste this or taste that. I just want to be able to decide. I spend more time in the kitchen than I have in the dining room, for obvious reasons. However, I just want to sit and indulge. I want the lights to be low. I want the service to be attentive. I don't want a 15-minute dialogue on the day's specials. I always say to the chef: just stop promoting the specials, because your menu should be special — give me what you think is your best shot. I had an amazing dinner recently at the Lazy Ox Canteen. I sat there with a pig's ear salad and had braised oxtail done in a ragout with pappardelle, and then I had this amazing panna cotta. That was it — a bottle of wine and I was done. Perfect.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Ego vs. food?

GORDON RAMSAY: Unfortunately, egos get spiraled out of control. I love that level of confidence in a chef, but I also like the control element and the way they have inner strength — if the vision is something they can really pull out of themselves. So the ego: we don't get carried away with stars and stripes. What you put on a plate every day should resemble you. It's fascinating. I don't see many out there that build such an arrogance, to some extent, because they're telling themselves the dish is good. Any good chef is picking up on the negative, and it's easy to ignore them.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: How do you choose the people you work with daily on Hell's Kitchen?

GORDON RAMSAY: In any business, any structure, it's not about a sous chef being number two or an executive chef — there's no such thing. We have a team and we're bloody good as a team. Andi worked for eight years alongside Michael Mina, one of the most prominent chefs in California. Scott Leibfried has been there since day one. So I'm not saying they make me look good, but they give me untold support. When I'm not there during the day, my standards are implemented on a daily basis — they're like two head chefs, so there are three of us running it. My fight is always against FOX: they want a show and I want a restaurant. The delightful Wolfgang Puck coming in this year and really demonstrating some amazing stuff — this is one of the most prominent chefs in the country today. You see 42 minutes of edited television, but there are 150 hours of footage for those 42 minutes, and the training is extraordinary. That's what you don't get to see behind the scenes.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What's the biggest mistake these chefs make when they sign on for Hell's Kitchen?

GORDON RAMSAY: I think the biggest mistake they make, to be honest, is they take it for granted. Listening to one another — getting the strategy in terms of becoming a team player — is far more important than being egotistical. I like that inner calmness with vision, and individuals that can motivate a team. When the chips are down, never, never, ever start blaming. When chefs start pointing fingers it's always the beginning of the end for me. They focus on their individual ego as opposed to the passion of the team. Get your head down and let the food do the talking.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What have you learned from doing these series?

GORDON RAMSAY: I quite like the variability in terms of both individuals learning and making a dish that's been done ten times over for the last decade. But coming up with stunning Mexican and Indian authenticity is something that very few chefs really understand. They need to know the diversity of the cross-sector, multi-culture demand from restaurants today — not being just a one-hit wonder. I always look at it through my training from the age of 19, when I went off to France, Spain, Italy, then down to the Caribbean. Recently I've just come back from Cambodia, and I loved the pressure of cooking with no dairy — it opened my eyes up to how exciting food can be. They go to the market twice a day. I tried to install that kind of respect and put them back in touch with ingredients, because I believe that makes them a more diverse and much better cook.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What's the criteria you use to evaluate these chefs?

GORDON RAMSAY: I study, I look at the different challenges we face on a daily basis with restaurants, chefs, customers, problems. I look at the waste percentage. I look at the creativity in terms of seasonality. This year we did an amazing charity event with close to $3 million. Then I want an individual flair coming from the control of cooking protein — filet, almost blindfolded — in a way that you identify the textures and you're cooking with your eyes closed. In my mind the palate is paramount. If you don't know how something should taste, you shouldn't be cooking it. I focus more on understanding what it should taste like first, before we understand how to cook it.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Did the chefs over-study the tapes this season?

GORDON RAMSAY: Do you know what — this season the chefs over-studied the tapes, which I never do. Everyone says, 'Oh my God, did you see what happened?' No. Do you honestly think I'm going to go back and watch it after really living it and being there live? You see that they master what's coming next, so we've moved the bar, we've raised the bar. There is one extraordinary lady — her name's Elise out of Pittsburgh — and she is rare. She's a unique, rare chef. I'm not going to say anything more. But watch out for this one, because you're not going to be tired of her name. The confidence is extraordinary, and I can say she can back it up with the talent.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: How does the dynamic in the kitchen change as the number of contestants dwindles down?

GORDON RAMSAY: To be honest, I cringe at the beginning and I go through that painstaking head-down period. When we get down to seven or eight and I've really started focusing on the core talent, it is a dream for me — I feel like they're my brigade. But this year, for the first time ever, when I got into one brigade I increased the size of the brigade, and my God I had a shock. They thought they were going to be cooking with their new black jacket as a team, but I brought in a team of chefs you've never seen before in Hell's Kitchen like this — that good — and they gave them a run for their money. It was quite an extraordinary twist.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What is the secret for the show's success?

GORDON RAMSAY: No one's walking on water thinking they're untouchable. We keep it real. No one gets carried away. The prize this year is phenomenal — a prominent business position as head chef. I'm not saying it's my last season, but I love it. It's a passion, it's heated, it's frustrating, it's rewarding, and then it's gratifying when one of those doors open. Listen, when it doesn't go right I still take the shit. When it does go right, I still take the shit. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. What I do know is that we have an amazing, talented group of chefs, and season nine is going to put a stake in the ground in a big way.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Do you think chefs tend to over-impress with their first presentation for you?

GORDON RAMSAY: They over-complicate it. If someone just served me a New York strip with braised collard greens and the most amazing potatoes, I'd be like a pig in shit. They over-complicate it because they get too worked up and overambitious. That's a problem with a lot of restaurants — chefs moving too fast in front of their customers, telling themselves that the more they fiddle and piss around with food, the better the customer's experience. We know that's wrong. The time has changed out there and there's a humble approach to food that we need to touch base with. It's not about filet, foie gras, caviar, high-end ingredients. It's about a skirt steak. It's about an amazing, stunning meal. It's about a wonderful passion. Don't get carried away. It's all packed full of flavor. We want something immaculate but tasting phenomenal.

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