The Editor's Hospitality Blog

Summer has arrived in London. A riot of hydrangea colours the Ritz's Piccadilly frontage, and outside Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant on Royal Hospital Road, the agapanthus are blooming.

There were more agapanthus on show in Sir Rocco Forte's beautiful central London garden, where I went to a press party yesterday to mark the tenth birthday of Rocco Forte Hotels. Sir Rocco was there, of course, along with Lady Forte - who looked stunning - and his sister, the hotel designer Olga Polizzi.

When journalists get together, the conversation can quickly descend into a game of one-upmanship, and yesterday was no different. There were loads of luxury travel, conference and incentive journos at the bash, and they all proceeded to outdo one another with tales of swanky press trips to New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, the West Indies ... I was able to get my own back, mind you, when the conversation turned to UK restaurants.

Sir Rocco was on top form, and told me all about his training for the forthcoming triathlon world championships. I munched guiltily away on the tasty canapes circulating the garden, as he described his gruelling daily exercise regime. How is it that captains of industry always manage to fit two-hour, pre-dawn gym sessions into their super-hectic schedules?

I'm off to the Hospitality Action Question of Sport dinner at Wembley Stadium tonight. The idea is that guests get wined and dined, check out the stadium's makeover and test their knowledge of sporting trivia, while the industry's charity makes pots of cash.

I'll report back tomorrow on what goes on. Meanwhile, to get in the mood, a few of us have racked our brains to contrive a 'top ten' of sportstars with hospitality connections.

Can you think of any we've missed?

Gordon Ramsay seemed set for a career-making sign-up to Rangers FC, before a cruciate knee ligament changed his plans. Lucky he could cook a bit ...

Terry Venables Current England assistant coach, El Tel once owned a nightclub called Scribes West on Kensington HIgh Street.

Lee Dixon Former Fat Duck shareholder Lee Dixon still co-owns the Riverside Brasserie on Monkey Island.

Frankie Dettori This year's Derby winner lent his name to the chain of restaurants he launched in partnership with Marco Pierre White.

David Coulthard co-owns Monaco's "chic, affordable and accessible" Columbus Hotel with Malmaison mastermind, Ken McCullough.

Sir Alex Ferguson managed Fergie's pub after his playing career ended. Downstairs bar, the Elbow Room was apparently named in honour of his robust style of play.

Together, Sir Ian Botham and Alan Lamb (AKA Beefy and Lamby), are the face of British meat.

Shoeless Joe's Bars may not have worked out, but Victor Ubogu now runs a corporate hospitality company firm that's got a packed summer and autumn schedule.

Roberto di Matteo followed his Chelsea career by opening two restaurants, Friends and Baraonda, a stone's throw from Stamford Bridge.

(... to sound of barrel being scraped ...) Christian minister and erstwhile heavyweight boxing champion of the world, George Foreman is now making the world a thinner place, thanks to his Lean, Mean, Fat-reducing Grilling Machine.

I'm fascinated by the Sunday Mirror's story about a kitchen porter's claims that he suffered racial harassment and discrimination, religious discrimination and victimisation at Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant in Chelsea.

The paper quoted a friend of Ramsay's as saying:

"Gordon employs more than 1,000 people of all nationalities. He spends a fortune sponsoring youngsters who want to be chefs through the Gordon Ramsay Scholarship Programme. It is a real hot-house in a kitchen and people shout and swear all the time - but he would never tolerate racism."

This is a fair comment. The commercial kitchen has to be the most testosterone-charged of workplaces, as well as one of the most racially diverse, and banter goes with the territory. As for Gordon himself, he has forged a hugely successful TV career out of being a foul-mouthed genius of the kitchen, but his abuse is blind to colour and creed - he'll tell anyone to f**k off out of his kitchen.

The question, then, is this: when does banter go too far? And can employers ever hope to keep it within the boundaries of acceptability?

Let me know what you think.

I've just finished the first chapter of Gordon Ramsay's autobiography, Humble Pie. It makes for pretty sobering reading and casts light upon the upbringing that made Ramsay so determined to make a success of his life.

Right from the book's introduction, Gordon takes off the brash, aggressive mask he wears on TV and in the glossies:

"My life, like most people's, is about keeping the wolf from the door. It's about hard work. It's about success. Beyond that, though, something else is at play. Is it fear? Maybe. I'm as driven as any man you'll ever meet ...When I think about myself, I still see a little boy who is desperate to escape, and anxious to please. Where am I trying to get to? I wonder ... Work is who I am, who I want to be. I sometimes think that if I were to stop, I'd cease to exist."

Chapter one focuses on Gordon's father, a pipe-dreaming, part-time country and western-singing chancer, philanderer and wife-beater. As Ramsay senior lugged his family from town to town, up and down the country, to avoid arrest or to seek employment, Gordon's feelings for him "hardened into hatred". Yet the chef is disarmingly honest about the confusion of emotions he felt upon meeting his father many years later, an old, broke and broken man; and then upon hearing of his death soon afterwards.

It's very revealing that Gordon sped straight back to his London restaurant, Aubergine, after his father's funeral. For so many chefs, the kitchen seems to offer safe haven from the outside world:

"I was there, on the pass, working as hard as ever, trying not to think ... I don't think I've ever needed my kitchen so much in all my life".

Interesting trivial fact: Gordon's father had dreams of turning his family into a country version of the Osmonds, but Gordon refused to get involved.

I'll let you know what I think of the rest of the book once I've finished it.

A few months ago I posted a story about a kitchen porter at Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant in Chelsea who claimed he had been a victim of racial harassment and religious victimisation.

The story set me thinking about how you can ensure healthy banter doesn's get out of hand in the commercial kitchen. Check out this response to the posting from a chef, who thinks there is still a place for a good bollocking in the kitchen from time to time:

The head chef's job is to make sure all foods go out the kitchen to his standard not his underlings'. If this does not happen the chef loses his rag - is this not acceptable?

Do you agree or disagree? let us know.

Sweary Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay found himself mired in controversy again at the end of last month, when an episode of Gordon's Great British Nightmare registered no less than 312 times on the swearometer - that's one profanity for every 20 seconds of the 103-minute Channel 4 show.

Now, a Scottish hotelier has decided that enough is enough. Ian Milne, of the Royal Hotel in Keith, has decided to take a stand against gutter talk by instigating a 'no swearing' policy at his establishment, where a sign warns potential customers, "if you have to swear do not come in".

Swearers in his bar will first be asked to refrain, and then refused service at the bar. Repeat offenders will be banned from the hotel bar and reported to the police.

Mr Milne claims he is not asking for something wildly ridiculous. I fear, though, that he may have the quietest bar in Keith if he polices his new law zealously.

Gordon Ramsay begins this week as fodder for the tabloids once again.

Check out Guide Girl, Caterersearch's blog dedicated to the world of restaurants, guides and all things Michelin, to find out what he's been up to. 

Gordon Ramsay found himself splashed across the front page of a red top again this morning, but, rather than blonde mistresses, it was "revelations" about a central production kitchen he uses for three gastropubs and Foxtrot Oscar. Read more on Guide Girl >>

I've just picked up on LBC that Marcus Wareing has received the chef gong in the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2009.

There's next-to-nothing on Google other than a piece on the Sun website, but nevertheless this marks the end of an incredible year for Wareing in which he was, for the first time in many, many years, in charge of his own destiny following his parting from Gordon Ramsay Holdings and the launch of Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley.

Speaking to Caterer after the awards, Wareing said: "[It was] the perfect end to my first year at Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley. [I am] delighted and honoured."

Other winners included Outstanding Achievement - Elvis Costello; International Man - Mickey Rourke; Alfred Dunhill Film-Maker - Guy Ritchie; Woman - Lily Allen; Band - Take That; Sportsman - Jenson Button; Solo Artist - Dizzee Rascal; and 2009 Catey Awards host comedian Michael McIntyre.

See our video interview with Marcus Wareing.