Monday, 20th November 2006 at 3:49 pm

Fiery Chef Gordon Ramsay does a wife swap of sorts and tries to take Manhattan

British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, whose temper is as notoriously fiery as Hell itself, made his U.S. debut last week when he opened the much anticipated Gordon Ramsay at the London Restaurant at the London NYC Hotel in Manhattan.

But while the food critics still chew on their pencils to rate whether or not Ramsay’s latest venture should earn him yet another Michelin star, he recently faced a challenge that may have been even tougher than overdone, old mutton (or an attempt at a successful opening for critical and jaded New Yorkers): For a day, he traded places with wife Tana, who recently published her own cook book. She took the reins at one of his London restaurants while he carted the kids from school, supervised their homework and - this shouldn’t have been difficult for a chef - prepared their dinner.

From his wife’s cook book, Tana Ramsay’s Family Kitchen.

Turns out his kids are tough critics. (Serves him right, say we!) Relaying the experience in a London Times column, Ramsay writes: “Back at home, Tana has asked me to make them sausage casserole from her book. First I get them all settled down for homework. Jack’s is to write out “Daddy’s food tastes better than Mummy’s” three times. Then a quick bribe of M&Ms to get them to behave, and I get all my ingredients together.”

“ I haven’t read Tana’s book yet, let alone done any of the recipes, but I have to say this looks good.”

“Megan looks up from her homework and tells me Mum always uses a bigger pan – yes, thank you, darling, I don’t think we’ll worry about that – and Jack wanders over to help strip the thyme leaves. It’s great having them around to help with little jobs like that.” (Read: “It’s great to have little slaves. Why else does one have the little buggers?”)

“So tea’s up. And whose do they prefer, mine or Mummy’s?

“They’re both the same, but yours is a tiny bit better,” says Tilly. Perfect. You can’t buy loyalty like that. “But where’s pudding?” Christ, does your mother make you one of those as well? Respect.”

Additional reading: Wife Swap by Gordon Ramsay - Times Online.

Gordon Ramsay takes first bite of Big Apple - Reuters UK.