Humble Pie by Gordon Ramsay

Author:Gordon Ramsay
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780007371136
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Oceans Apart

A guy came into the restaurant who had an agency near Nice that employed chefs to work on board the yachts of millionaires. A few days later, I sent them my CV. Within twenty-four hours, they contacted me and told me that they had a job for me on board a charter. The idea of what amounted to a working holiday sounded like just what the doctor ordered. So I headed down to the Med. My boat was captained by an absolute knob, but berthed next to it was another boat, Idlewood. One night, I got talking to one of its deckhands, and he let me know that they were looking for a chef, too.

‘Our captain’s called Ginger Steve,’ he said.

I met up with Ginger Steve two days later, and he told me that he worked for a high-profile couple, but that he couldn’t tell me who they were, which meant that the owners had to be seriously rich. So, forty hours later, I’m sailing off into the sunset on this beautiful mega-yacht.

It was amazing. The kitchen was massive for a boat. There were twenty-two crew members, and I was earning about $4,000 per month, which is a fortune. And bear in mind that I was spending no money. I didn’t even have to cook for the crew. My assistant did that.

It turned out that the boat was owned by Reg Grundy and his wife, Joy Chambers. Reg is one of Australia’s most famous media bosses. He founded the Grundy Organisation, which makes television shows like Young Doctors and, most famously of all, Neighbours. Joy is a novelist and an actress. They were charming, the perfect employers, and I loved them to bits. I’m still in touch with them. They came to my restaurant Aubergine when it opened. They came to my wedding and they send my children presents.

After the summer season, I’d saved about £15,000, which seemed like a fortune, and I felt fantastic. But I was dying to get back to London and use everything I had learned to open my own restaurant. Then I was asked if I would travel with the boat across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Then the Grundys would pay for me to fly back to Europe. When would I get the chance to do something like that ever again? I was torn between wanting to pursue my dream back in London or have one last adventure – so I agreed.

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