Gordon Ramsay is critical of a lot of things, but TikTok food trends? He’s on board.
The Kitchen Nightmares star, 56, recently spoke with PEOPLE ahead of his new restaurant opening, Ramsay’s Kitchen at Harrah’s in Las Vegas. With dozens of restaurants around the world and now six with Caesars Entertainment in Sin City, the prolific restaurateur counts social media as a modern-day bonus when it comes to dining experiences.
“[Social media] is the best thing that’s ever happened to our industry,” he says. “It’s a part of the culinary scene now that has been so exciting.”
Instead of waiting weeks to get a restaurant review published, digital users give their feedback in “seconds,” he adds.
Tallying nearly 35 million TikTok followers since joining the platform right before the pandemic hit, Ramsay uses his account to both hilariously roast TikTokers’ culinary disasters and tap into viral food trends. And there’s one dish in particular that he says “got a lot of people through this pandemic” — the baked feta pasta.
The first version of the dish, which appeared to have been created by Finnish food blogger Jenni Häyrinen in 2019, took off on TikTok in early 2021.
“[The pandemic] was one of the most difficult moments for us in the industry. So, I love that stuff,” says Ramsay.
He adds that people’s innovative ideas are “so inspirational” to him when it comes to what they can dream up into buzzy recipes.
“It’s magnetizing because you think, ‘Christ, does that really work?’ And all of a sudden you’ve got this feta, roasted tomato dish that you serve for six or 10 guests and for so cheap,” he says. “That’s where it hit the mark. And you see 10 million likes and a hundred million followers liking these particular dishes because people can relate to it. And it’s exciting and it’s new. That’s the exciting thing about social media.”
As for his own account, Ramsay says he gets help from “the best influencers on the planet in my household” — his three daughters, Megan, 24, HollyAnna 22 and Tilly, 21. (Ramsay is also dad to Jack, 22, and Oscar, 3).
“My biggest critics are my daughters,” he says. “They say, ‘Dad, that’s a sh– idea.’ ‘Dad, that is a really cool idea.’ ‘Dad, no, you got to stop doing that.”
As a chef known for his brutally honest feedback, Ramsay welcomes customers’ critiques or thoughts on his own restaurants on social media. “I love the exposure that social media brings to culinary because it’s a great way of staying on your toes,” he says.
Enhancing the customer experience is something that the Michelin-starred chef aims to achieve at his new restaurant, Ramsay’s Kitchen Las Vegas, which marks its grand opening on the Strip on Nov. 16. He hopes to dispel people’s conceptions of Las Vegas restaurants with what he calls “affordable glam.”
“There’s a side to Vegas that’s very show-offy,” he says. “This restaurant is all about removing the bandaid and getting rid of that pretentious Vegas side and offering something a little bit more humbling.”
With menu items like jumbo lump crab cakes and beef carpaccio in addition to his iconic beef Wellington, the food offerings are approachable and innovative, much like the inviting yet chic design of the dining rooms.
“What I was in danger of doing is just replicating another restaurant in Vegas based on the success. I wanted to do something different that didn’t cannibalize the success and could stand out from the rest,” he says. “When I looked at the space, it was in the middle of that awful pandemic and there was a spirit of, ‘How do we bounce back with affordable glam?'”
