Gordon Ramsay [1] graces the October cover of Vegas magazine [2], and he dishes on everything from the latest season of MasterChef to his newest restaurant venture. The Scottish chef has 30 restaurants in total — he doesn't make the same amount of money as Beyoncé [3] for no reason — and four of those restaurants are in Las Vegas [4]. His newest Vegas restaurant, Fish and Chips [5], will open on Oct. 7, and it will be a much more casual spot than his usual fine-dining restaurants. According to Gordon Ramsay's official site [6], "the takeaway-style British restaurant will feature Ramsay's signature fish and chips, bangers and mash, chicken planks, and hearty seafood chowder." Gordon has been in the game for decades, but there are still things that surprise him and things that keep him in check, despite his massive level of fame. Get a glimpse of Gordon's interview below, and pick up the magazine to get the full scoop.
On what surprises him about Vegas after having restaurants there for four years: "Well, we are in the middle of the desert, but the level of ingredients and products that gets into Vegas is extraordinary. Whether it's Santa Barbara prawns or the most amazing shellfish from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts — everything is in abundance. So there are no excuses. The produce is a bit of a chef's dream, which I didn't expect. The quality of the proteins is equal to anything in New York, Paris, London — and I can confirm that because I have restaurants in them all."
On maintaining high standards and not letting his fame cause him to neglect his own restaurants: "I started from zero, and it's so incredible. So, I can't sit back at 50. Am I ready to stop? No. I've found the balance in terms of family, profession, and then this sort of empire size. I have seen so many chefs fall to the wayside because they got wrapped up in the glamour of fame and adulation — it's gone to their head and they are turning out a pile of sh*t behind the scenes. That would be the death of me — I couldn't live with myself on that one."