Chef!

[libertango]

Wonderful BBC show we've been watching via Netflix' instant queue.

Given this show ran from 1993-1996, and Gordon Ramsay didn't hit TV until 1998's Boiling Point, one can see where Ramsay developed his acerbic chef character (this is not to be confused with his McKinsey-style business consultant from the sky, which is his own genius). The episode where chef Gareth is filmed documentary-style and profane, and the heaps of positive reviews that appear the next day in the papers, is very telling. If Ramsay isn't giving 5% of his gross takings to star Lenny Henry and writer Peter Tilbury, a lawyer has missed his bet.

EDITED TO ADD: Lenny Henry appeared on Ramsay's The F Word, which can be seen here. That page has both Lenny's recipe for "Jamaican pepper pot soup" and a link to a pop-up video excerpt of Lenny and Gordon talking in the kitchen. Lenny had been doing a production of Othello, Gordon grew up in Stratford -- very easy, very loose, watching the two of them.

Comments

[daveon.livejournal.com]

Seriously, I was working in an office that had a catering recruiter about the time Chef came out. That's Chefs, all of them. Ramsey is just famous but he's pretty much slap in the middle of the bell curve based on the ones I saw.

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

Ramsey had been on tv before then, just not in his own show. And his personality was kinda well known from his time as a footballer.