http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2382852.eceA RESTAURANT boss savaged by Gordon Ramsay branded the TV chef a hypocrite last night after The Sun revealed he serves pre-prepared meals at a string of his fancy bistros.
Israel Pons suffered a foul-mouthed roasting from the fiery star when his eaterie D-Place featured in Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares show.
So he was shocked when we told yesterday how Ramsay, 42, has items on some of his posh menus cooked for as little as £1.92 at a central kitchen, then delivered by van to be heated up in bags.
Israel had to close his restaurant in Chelmsford, Essex, months after Ramsay breezed in to save it from going broke in 2005.
From his new place in Colchester, he said: “It’s hypocritical of him to use a mass production system.
“We were criticised for making up orders the day before instead of fresh on the day.
“Restaurants he puts his name to should follow the ethos he stands for.”
Shaun Hill, 62, took over the Walnut Tree in Abergavenny, South Wales, after it was in Kitchen Nightmares.
He said: “I bet Gordon wishes he hadn’t talked quite so much about fresh food cooked on the premises.
“These things have a habit of coming back to haunt you.
“His staff said food is cooked fresh, then they van it in — it just doesn’t look good, does it?”
A fine dining expert also slammed Ramsay’s methods.
Lindsey Bareham, the respected food critic of The Times, ate at the Devonshire, Ramsay’s gastro-pub in Chiswick, West London.
She said: “I had my suspicions. I thought, ‘This is boil-in-the-bag type food’. I was disappointed.
“People go into his restaurants expecting it to be prepared on-site. I think the public is being slightly hoodwinked. But cooking complicated food requires a lot of staff, so it’s cheaper to buy it in.”
We revealed that fishcake costing diners £9.95 at Ramsay’s Foxtrot Oscar in Chelsea, West London, is actually ready made in South London for just £1.92 a portion.
An assistant manager had insisted: “Everything is cooked here.”
But a Ramsay spokesman last night defended his “boil-in-the-bag” technique — insisting it was a part of a trendy French cooking style called “sous vide”.
He said: “The central kitchen is a state-of the-art-facility.
“It is a Gordon Ramsay kitchen run by Gordon Ramsay chefs cooking Gordon Ramsay food.
“It just happens to be off-site. Meals are supplied to kitchens with limited cooking space.”
