FICRY

Amidst all the frenzy over cost-cuttings and business-foundering, another industry that has been emblematic of the recent boom takes a hit. And who better to act as its arbiter than one of the most celebrated chefs of the last decade, the over-stretched and overexposed reality-show starring Gordon Ramsay? As reported today in the Wall Street Journal, the Scottish chef who put British cooking on the map now faces the prospect of selling his London townhouse, parting ways with this Ferrari, and cutting 15% of his staff, as well as retaining the name rights only for a number of world-wide restaurants previously in his ownership.

We could just chalk it up to the one-man powerhouse stretching himself just a bit too thin, what with 20 restaurants, including locations in New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Prague, and Paris, staffed by 1,200 people, but this is the FICRY, which means that one man’s financial troubles are always indicative of something greater afoot. The WSJ reports:

The super-chef’s current troubles illustrate the intense pressure facing high-end restaurateurs these days. Diners are eating out less often and spending less when they do, particularly on wine and spirits, where the fattest profit margins are. Corporate entertaining, which can account for as much as a third of a luxury restaurant’s business, has fallen sharply.

As someone who rose out of obscurity to command an empire, Ramsay is representative of the changing view of the culinary profession, fueled by the success of Bravo’s glamorous reality cooking show Top Chef but also by shows like Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, starring Ramsay himself. A decade ago, “chef” was the title of someone who commanded a team of cooks in a restaurant kitchen, not someone who sat behind a judging table tasting bizarre concoctions whipped up by aspiring followers on television and certainly not, god forbid, someone who merely cooked at home as a hobby.

The success of Ramsay and chefs like him as not just brought cooking and foodie culture into the mainstream, it has caused a cultural shift no less groundbreaking than that which came with the release of Julia Child’s first cookbook. And with that shift came more and more money, as no-doubt millions were invested into more and more cooking shows, making stars out of lightweights like Rachel Ray and Rocco Dispirito, and making even those chefs like Ramsay, who had talent and a head on their shoulders, believe they could flaunt all the rules of good business and open too many restaurants in too little time.

According to the WSJ article, Ramsay is adjusting with the changing times by scaling back on the details, like removing flowers from tables and using cheaper cuts of meat, but he is still planning to expand, albeit in ways that are less risky for him personally. His plans to open restaurants in Italy, Australia, and Qatar may seem like hubris run-amok, but in fact he’s only following the lead of so many celebrity chefs these days, essentially only acting as a consultant: the new places entail less risk because he doesn’t own them. He’s providing his name, key staff and menu advice in exchange for fees.

Ramsay performs a publicity stunt in the window of a restaurant on Oxford St., London.

Let us hope that at least a fraction of the restaurant industry manages to stay out of pressure cooker, because when the FICRY is finally over and the smoke has cleared, bankers will still need to go somewhere to get their foie gras.