Why Gordon Ramsay Usually Skips Sit-Down Lunches And Dinners
It turns out that Gordon Ramsay is as busy as he acts. The mercurial star chef took to Reddit to answer questions from readers, one of whom asked the chef about his daily eating habits and preferences for meal times. The restauranteur admits that actually sitting down to eat a meal isn't part of his usual routine, as the demands of cheffing and managing his own kitchens keep him on his feet. "I have a breakfast with oatmeal, that's the first thing, and that sets me up for the rest of the day," Ramsay explained, adding that the time it takes to sit down and enjoy a several-course meal is something of a luxury for the time-strapped professional.
"I'm not very good at sitting down for 3 hours to enjoy a meal. I'd be lying if I told you, 'I sit down 4 nights a week and have a 3-course dinner.' I do nothing of the sort," he wrote, adding that with regular taste tests in the kitchen keeping hunger pangs at bay, he would need to plan in advance for space in his stomach as well as his schedule. Even when the chef does make a dinner appearance, he admits to sharing appetizers before digging into main courses and savoring desserts.
Understandable preferences of a hospitality professional
Ramsay says the packed schedules of hospitality industry workers can prevent the ability to enjoy lengthy sit-down meals. To Redditors, Ramsay gave the example of having dinner reservations at 5:30 p.m., then needing to leave the restaurant to go cook for several hours for work after enjoying a full, leisurely-eaten meal.
He explains, "I like to keep on my toes, and eat small bits," adding that frequent small meals dispersed over the course of a day help keep him energetic and active enough in order to tackle long hours spent in the kitchen. "Almost like in Hong Kong — 4 or 5 times a day, small bowls of food," he wrote, referring to the tendency of Hong Kong citizens to eat more than three meals in a day. For someone who spends most of their time in a restaurant, it checks that any free time would be spent elsewhere, not in a dining room.