On a given day at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, chef Gordon Ramsay’s eponymous pub and grill will make around $20,000 from fish and chips. The 1,200-square-foot space sees around 1,300 guests a day. Since debuting on the strip in 2012, Ramsay has added another location in Atlantic City. 



Combined, both have sold more than 300,000 fish and chips dishes. “It’s taken the nation by storm. I look at the lines outside the door,” Ramsay told Forbes on the phone earlier this week.



His steak restaurant, which launched seven years ago at Caesars’ Paris Las Vegas Hotel, has meanwhile expanded to Atlantic City and Baltimore, luring diners with beef Wellingtons (more than 250,000 sold since 2012) and sticky toffee puddings (more than 200,000 sold). 



That kind of demand needs to be taken advantage of quickly. Which is why a year ago, Ramsay started looking for a partner to help him rapidly expand these brands. “I wasn’t ready to pedal this bike up a hill on my own. That would take me another 15 years,” Ramsay says. “Let’s get this thing done.”



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And now Ramsay has inked a deal with Lion Capital, a private equity outfit with offices in London and Los Angeles, which has scaled restaurants like wagamama, the pan-Asian noodle chain, as well as brands like Kettle chips and Jimmy Cho. Lion now owns 50% of Gordon Ramsay North America, while the other 50% is controlled by Ramsay. 



He declined to comment on the size of the transaction, but the deal stipulates that Lion will invest $100 million over five years to build an empire of Gordon Ramsay restaurants across America. The joint venture expects to open 100 new locations across the U.S by 2024. 



“I fell in love with this country 20 years ago. There’s a will here. My goal, right now, is to establish one of the most exciting food brands in America,” Ramsay says. “Being a control freak, I needed the right partner on board. There’s a lot of businesses that don’t like that kind of stranglehold. For me, the partnership was crucial.”



Ramsay already has eight restaurants across Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Baltimore in partnership with Caesars Entertainment. There’s five concepts in Las Vegas, of which three are brands that will be expanded through the new deal — Gordon Ramsay Steak, Gordon Ramsay Pub &amp; Grill, Gordon Ramsay Fish &amp; Chips.



“Vegas has been the most amazing platform. Everyone thinks it is just full of partying and entertainment, but it’s one of the most severe and revered culinary capitals anywhere in the world. You don’t get a second shot at it,” Ramsay says.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5d1389d8142c500008c7510e/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="The restaurant concept, Gordon Ramsay Steak, launched in 2012 inside Caesar Entertainment's Paris Las Vegas Hotel &amp; Casino on the Las Vegas Strip."/><figcaption>The restaurant concept, Gordon Ramsay Steak, launched in 2012 inside Caesar Entertainment’s Paris Las Vegas Hotel &amp; Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.GORDON RAMSAY STEAK</figcaption></figure>



The deal will also bring two more concepts to the U.S.: Gordon Ramsay Street Pizza and Gordon Ramsay Bread Street Kitchen, which he calls “a modern Cheesecake Factory.” It already has successful locations in&nbsp;London, Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore.&nbsp;



Ramsay is a six-time Celebrity 100 listmaker who earned $62 million last year, mainly from his television deal with Fox, in which he produces and stars in shows MasterChef, Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef Jr. as well as 24 Hours to Hell and Back.



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“It may seem aggressive, but we’re not opening up 80 or 90 of the same restaurant. We’re crossing over with a multilayered brand. That’s the bit that I’ve worked hard at. We’ve divided and conquered.”



Ramsay’s 15 restaurants in London won’t be impacted by the Lion Capital investment. The announcement comes just a few weeks after British chef Jamie Oliver announced that all but three of his 25 restaurants in the U.K. will close.



“It’s a very oversaturated market there, and you need to be very careful with that level of expansion. It’s unfortunate to see the situation he got himself into, but that’s what happens when you’ve got a juggernaut that’s out of control, as opposed to being in control,” Ramsay says. “I’ve sat patiently, learning from other people’s mistakes.”=



-Chloe Sorvino; Forbes Staff

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Gordon Ramsay Plots 100 US Restaurants With New Private Equity Deal

FORBES AFRICA is slightly early for the interview and photoshoot at the SA Culinary Club in Bryanston, Johannesburg. The owner tells us the chef is running a bit late and, also, that he didn’t take him seriously when he walked in one day wearing shorts asking to cook for them.
He finally arrives in jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers looking young and far from the fat chef one would expect. He is short and slim and has cooked for everyone, from Jay-Z to the president of Nigeria.
As we begin our conversation, he jokes that every article on him starts in Soweto; a vibrant township south of Johannesburg where he was born and bred. He grew up in different parts of South Africa, going to different schools, but in his early teenage years he knew he loved the kitchen.
Chef Wandile Mabaso, South Africa’s French cuisine ambassador, cooked his first meal for his family at the age of 14. His father didn’t understand, nor approve, of him being a chef because at the time it wasn’t a job for black people. The misnomer faded and Mabaso started traveling; exploring and making money cooking.
“After high school I went to a hotel school; did a hotel degree. I found myself a job on a small private cruise ship in the Mediterranean. So I spent a lot of time in Italy, around Scandinavia, Barcelona, Monaco,” he recalls.
It was Mabaso’s first time outside of South Africa and he didn’t know what to expect, but he was in his early 20s and very excited. On his return, Mabaso furthered his studies and went for a culinary degree where he was offered a job in the United States while studying. He didn’t look back and went straight to Miami, where he spent 18 months and from there headed to New York, where he was trained in classical French cuisine. He has worked for many famous French chefs and was mentored by the world-famous Chef Olivier Reginensi.
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Mabaso was more eager and passionate than the rest of the class when cooking; trying new things was his ideology. He stood out and was handpicked over the other chefs who were more shy, unsure or scared.
“I worked at Daniel, I worked at Le Bernardin, which are all two-star, three-star Michelin restaurants, at least top 20 in the world. I worked in a whole lot of high-end places in Manhattan, probably all these restaurants are at least in the top 50 in the world,” he says.
<div id="attachment_34938" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34938" class=" wp-image-34938" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Chef-Wandile-Mabaso-1-e1515483290853-300x200.jpg" alt="Chef Wandile Mabaso Beyonce Paris" width="500" height="333" />Chef Wandile Mabaso (Photo by Motlabana Monnakgotla)</div>
When he cooks, it’s professional; it’s rare for him to cook the same dish again. His training made him creative.
He has cooked for Jay-Z, Beyoncé, presidents and NBA stars in Paris.
“People are fascinated by cooking for celebrities, for me it means nothing, in a sense we’re all people, whether you a celebrity or a guy helping park cars. Chances are people like Beyoncé just like fried chicken and the average guy has a better palate than Jay-Z. It doesn’t mean cooking for Jay-Z is the ultimate person to cook for. I’m not about showing off,” says Mabaso with a straight face.
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There’s a culture of collecting knives among chefs in New York. Before Mabaso left the Big Apple for Paris, he was gifted with a Misono knife (handcrafted Japanese chef&#8217;s knives), by Chef Reginensi, engraved with his name. The knife is worth $420.52 and he treasures it.
In 2017, Mabaso was in partnership with <a href="https://carrolboyes.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Carrol Boyes</a>; a renowned cutlery and crockery artist and designer. He served all his food on Carrol Boyes plates on a sold-out tour he took across South Africa.
“I would have a class where I would invite junior chefs or students and show cooking techniques. From there I’d choose one, two or three kids to come work with me for the dinner. At the end we put out a bursary where I choose two from the whole tour to go work in Paris at a three-star Michelin restaurant,” he says.
The tour ended in Cape Town and two learners will be undergoing French speaking lessons for three months with the French Institute of South Africa and the French Embassy before leaving, and will be funded by Mabaso and other chefs in France.
Next, Mabaso will be collaborating with a South African artist on a cutlery and crockery range. The artist will work on the plate and Mabaso will serve on it in 2018.
“It’s art and food combined.”
Mabaso was out of the country for nine years and missed traditional South African food. Tripe is one of his favorite childhood memories and he says he prefers street food over haute cuisine. He doesn’t like Johannesburg’s central business district because there is “no sanitation, no cleanliness and you can’t cook like that,” he says.
“The best I have experienced is a falafel in Paris, it’s just this place man. They sell shawarmas for 10 euros but there’s always a line, sometimes about 800 meters long, every day, and it&#8217;s Algerian guys doing it in Paris.”
Mabaso started in Soweto, traveled and cooked for VIPs globally. Now he’s back in South Africa, sharing his skills with younger chefs, and hopes to have long queues outside his restaurant one day.

The Chef Who Cooked For Beyoncé In Paris

<h3>Shashi Naidoo</h3>
South African businesswoman, model, actress and TV presenter, who recently became one of the founding members of Fashion with Feeling, a non-profit organization in the fashion industry.
HAPPINESS TO ME IS…Having the freedom and access to realize one’s potential and worth.
WHAT I FEAR THE MOST: Living a life without purpose.
WHAT I HATE IN OTHERS: Hate is such a strong and negative emotion. There are differences in others, which we find difficult to qualify with our own values and principles. I try to keep away from any negative behavior that is of no benefit to others or me.
I ADMIRE: My mother and sister have always been inspirational; they have always pursued their passions, and look for the best potential in everyone. One woman who is a great inspiration for me is Navi Pillay; she has gone where many women have not been able to, due to her dedication and commitment to human rights. She was the first woman of color to be a judge of the high court in South Africa; she was a judge of the international criminal court. It’s very important for us to speak up for those who are being deprived of their rights, and I find there is nothing nobler than pioneering one’s life to preserving human rights and equality.
MY LUXURIES: Shoes and handbags. I always remind myself that one day, my daughter will get to enjoy them as heirlooms.
WOULD YOU GO UNDER THE KNIFE FOR PLASTIC SURGERY? Plastic surgery exists for medical reasons and to help us enhance some of our features that we are insecure about. I prefer going to the gym than surgery, because the recovery period is not as painful as going under the knife. I am quite content with myself right now; maybe if gravity takes its toll one day, I will consider getting some work done.
MY THINKING: Keeping your focus is important if you want to make a success of anything. Sometimes we get really busy making a living and forget to make a life, which is detrimental to the mind. So always reward yourself for all your hard work, and take time out to say thank you.
&nbsp;
<h3>Chantel Dartnall</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-29594 size-large" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-047-Snippets-003-710x1024.jpg" alt="" width="710" height="1024" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-047-Snippets-003.jpg 710w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-047-Snippets-003-300x433.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-047-Snippets-003-600x865.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-047-Snippets-003-208x300.jpg 208w" sizes="(max-width: 710px) 100vw, 710px" />
Chef Chantel Dartnall is the culinary force behind Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient in Johannesburg that has one of the most diverse (and longest) wine lists this side of the Sahara.
<h4>Describe the food you create in three words?</h4>
Flavorful, botanical, artistic.
<h4>What makes a good chef?</h4>
Passion.
<h4>What make a terrible chef?</h4>
A chef who does not respect himself/herself or the people working with them.
<h4>What is your signature dish?</h4>
This season it has to be Birds of a Feather which is a trio of poultry. Fungi on the Forest Floor which features a beautiful combination of mushrooms. From previous seasons, Lobster Bisque, Duck leg Confit and Cambodian Butternut cream soup.
<h4>Your favorite restaurant in Johannesburg?</h4>
Chef Dario Di Angeli’s Cube Tasting Kitchen.
<h4>Whose cooking inspires you?</h4>
Chef Pieter Goosen at Hof van Cleve &#8211; Belgium, Chef Michel Bras &#8211; Aubrac, France, Chef Pascal Barbot – Paris.
<h4>Which words or phrases do you most overuse?</h4>
Taste, taste and re-taste.
<h4>What or who is the love of your life?</h4>
My lovable black cat, Peanut, short for Peanut Butter.
<h4>What is your greatest achievement?</h4>
Opening the Restaurant Mosaic eight years ago.
<h4>Where would you most like to live?</h4>
Italy for the food and the beautiful ancient cities.
<h4>What qualities do you most admire in other women?</h4>
Self-confidence, self-assurance and being a great leader.
<h4>What would your last meal on earth be?</h4>
Creamy wild mushroom and black truffle pasta and a very big wild strawberry
Mille-feuille and a bottle of Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque champagne.

FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-047-Snippets-001

INSPIRATION

Tolu Erogbobo is the latest sensation in the Nigerian gourmet scene, famed for creating delectable pastries, cookies and signature dishes for those who crave quality food in Lagos. He is popularly known as Chef Eros, named after the Greek god of love. His love for food means the 28-year-old chef counts billionaire tycoons Mike Adenuga and Aliko Dangote, as well as international stars like Lauren Hill, among his clients. It has also led to him being labelled as the next big thing to watch by CNN.
For Erogbobo it is surreal; he never planned to become a chef.
“When I started business I didn’t want to be a chef, I just wanted to be a restaurateur. I loved the restaurant business; I had worked on a few restaurant projects in my younger days. In the UK I worked with Oceania (Hotels )Group where they had set up a few restaurants in my university and just seeing the delivery of the equipment, putting them in place, making them work and designing a place to make it feel nice, was so exciting for me,” says Erogbobo, the Founder of Cookie Jar, a gourmet bakery.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5330" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Chef-etch-242x300.jpg" alt="" width="242" height="300" />
That was before Erogbobo had an unlikely experience in the kitchen.
“All of that switched in a year of me finding my true love, which is food. I found that through chicken; just seasoning chicken, putting the spices together, and then different cooking processes giving you different textures. I found the love for food in university then I combined that with the love for interior spaces, which is what drove the passion for the restaurant.”
After graduating in 2008 with a business degree from the University of Wolverhampton, in England, Erogbobo moved back to Nigeria with the plan to help his mother set up a restaurant.
It cost N60 million ($190,000) to start the first restaurant. Erogbobo was 21 years old at the time. His mother and sister put up a significant amount of the start-up capital.
“The funds for the restaurant were raised predominantly by my mother who sold one of her properties to invest. My sister supported with some her saving and so did I,” he says.
Erogbobo knew that location was key, however all the best locations in town came at a steep price. As luck would have it, he found a restaurant in Victoria Island whose owner was looking to sell and agreed to let the cash-strapped Erogbobo pay in monthly instalments.
“The owner said to me he didn’t want to sell the restaurant anymore because I didn’t have the money to buy it all at once, so he offered to be partners instead. So I came in, used the money I had to revamp the place from just a café to a café restaurant and that is how the journey actually started,” says Erogbobo.
The restaurant later failed because Erogbobo did not keep his eye on the numbers, according to the young entrepreneur. After a brief stint in real estate and energy, the calling of the kitchen could no longer be ignored.
“I started having dreams about cookies and they continued every other night. They were so vivid and I would wake up sometimes and I would be so emotional. In 2012, I got all the ingredients needed, went online, found the recipe I wanted and came back to bake. The first batch of cookies I made fell flat but they tasted really good. I went back and did more homework and I tried it out again, and it worked out. I went downstairs and gave my friends some to try and they all loved it. One of my friends offered to pay me and I didn’t know how much to charge so I said N500 ($1.50) per cookie and he didn’t object, so he bought four.”
Erogbobo realized he was onto something and needed to spread the word quickly.
“I started baking everyday and started posting pictures on [messaging app] BBM and I found out that BBM was working. So every time I would go out, I would get a lot of BBM contacts because I wanted them to see my updates and I used to update like every five minutes. It was annoying for a lot of people because you were always seeing me on your timeline but the moment you think of nibbling on something, the first thing you think of is me,” says Erogbobo.
Business soon took off. Aptly for someone called Chef Eros, Valentine’s Day came and Erogbobo sold over $2,500 worth of cookies over the love season and he has been on a trajectory ever since. The company is in its third year and currently turns over N150 million ($480,000) per year according to Erogbobo. The growth has been fast with three kitchens opened in Lagos, including Glasshouse Catering, which provides cocktail-style catering for events; Cookie Jar, which is the bakery and Eros and Gourmet, the speciality savoury dish brand.
As if his success wasn’t remarkable enough, this year Erogbobo was recruited by Food Revolution, the campaign started by culinary master Jamie Oliver. The celebrity chef launched the program to encourage people from all over the world to adopt a healthy eating lifestyle and push their own government to fight diet related diseases.
Joining the Food Revolution was a dream come true for Erogbobo. This year, he is gearing up to open a new catering service offering a 24-hour healthy breakfast menu for his clients.
“The Food Revolution is all about changing the way people eat, buy, grow, and what people understand about food. My global goal is zero hunger and for the next 15 years I aim to help end hunger in Africa. To do that we have to achieve sustainable agriculture, achieve improved nutrition and improved food security,” says Erogbobo.
With  Erogbobo’s passion for food, don’t bet against him.

The Man Who Knows  What Billionaires  Eat For Lunch

Chef Vicky Gurovich simply loves what she does.
“It was meant to be. I love eating and I love feeding people. I get to do that everyday&#8230;I think I am pretty lucky,” she says.
She started young, growing up in a kitchen filled with women who were “great cooks”. Weekends were spent in the kitchen baking, with each creation more ambitious than the last.
“I think I made quite a mess, I always had rather ambitious goals in mind when I was baking as a youngster.”
Messy beginnings aside, she has had to hone her craft through her education and her time in celebrated kitchens. She studied food theory at the WITS Tech Hotel School in Johannesburg, her hometown.
“We studied the theory behind what we were cooking&#8230;we got a very good classic base which was good to build on because you understand the basics properly.”
She then took a leap, moved from Johannesburg and made her start in the industry at the four-star Shrigley Hall Hotel, an English countryside retreat. It wasn’t the life of grandeur and sophistication she imagined when she was a student but it was an important step, she says.
“I moved in a different direction but I learnt how to work quickly&#8230;it was a good first job. You walk out of hotel school with these delusions of grandeur but you get down to peeling potatoes and moving out mise en place at a rapid pace.”
It was after that first job that she took an interest in pastry-making. She got in touch with the pastry chef at the Michelangelo Hotel, in the heart of Sandton in Johannesburg, and found a way into his kitchen.
“I worked for free for about three months&#8230;I just wouldn’t leave.”
She didn’t, she joined the pastry department at the hotel for over a year.
That was the catalyst for her impressive career in pastry. She moved to the historic Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town and made her mark there, twice. Gurovich then returned to Johannesburg to lead the pastry department at the Saxon, a luxury mainstay in the city. She even won the Huletts Pastry Chef of the Year Award along the way.
Today, she leads the same department at the glittering new Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff, perched on the hills of southern Johannesburg. She is excited about her new challenge.
“I think going forward, it’s going to be very interesting,” she says.

Tag: Chef

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Gordon Ramsay Plots 100 US Restaurants With New Private Equity Deal

The Chef Who Cooked For Beyoncé In Paris

INSPIRATION

The Man Who Knows What Billionaires Eat For Lunch

The Sweet Life