A spokesperson for Gordon Ramsay Holdings, has been widely quoted criticising Harden’s for “inevitably negative spin” in the press release for the launch of Harden’s London Restaurants 2009.

We’d like to place on the record that there was and is nothing “inevitably negative” about Harden’s coverage of Gordon Ramsay. In fact, as detailed below, most Harden’s ‘launch’ coverage of Gordon Ramsay in recent years has been positive or very positive.

In the old days, we used to get an annual call from Gordon thanking us for our support. We always told him not to thank us, but to thank the hundreds of reporters who rated his restaurant so highly. Why his representatives now think it’s time to ‘shoot the messenger’ is not entirely clear.


Summary of recent launch release mentions of Gordon Ramsay

Details of the last seven launch releases (since the 2002 edition) so far as they pertain to Gordon Ramsay, are set out below.

From this it may be seen that four – more than half – are very positive, two are mixed and one (last year) was somewhat negative.

2002 edition – Very positive
[No relevant headline]
Gordon Ramsay provides the top gastronomic experience with ‘heavenly modern French food’ at his ‘nicely glamorous’ Chelsea dining room.

2003 edition – Mixed
Gordon Ramsay still London’s top chef,
but new Claridge’s venture is slated

2004 edition – Mixed
Good news for Ramsay, The Ivy and Locatelli
Bad news for Sketch, Nobu… and Ramsay

2005 edition – Very positive
Mixed news for TV chefs in new Harden’s guide
“For an extraordinary ninth consecutive year, Gordon Ramsay is voted London’s top chef in the new edition of Harden’s… In spite of his growing media commitments, Mr Ramsay’s flagship Chelsea restaurant is praised for its “world-class form” and its “exhilaratingly good” cuisine.

2006 edition– Very positive
Gordon Ramsay Top Chef for amazing 10th year

2007 edition – Positive
Surprise challenger to Ramsay for title of capital’s best chef
“Morgan Meunier has emerged as the surprise challenger for the title of the capital’s best chef… Meunier is beaten for the quality of his cuisine only by Gordon Ramsay (who is voted the capital’s top chef for the 11th consecutive year) and by Bruce Poole (acclaimed, for the second year running, as the chef of the capital’s favourite restaurant, Chez Bruce).

2008 – Moderately negative
After eleven years unchallenged, Ramsay teeters