Get away with Gordon

A balmy night, a beachy backdrop. The cutlery sparkles and the food is art on the plate. The craggy-faced man leans over. Your eyes meet, and he whispers gently: “Pretty f***ing good, isn’t it?” We can’t guarantee a Ramsay moment precisely this up-close-and-personal, but if the terror of the culinary airwaves is someone you’d like to hang with, you’re not likely to get a better shot at it than at the weekend we’re hosting in conjunction with Sanctuary Cove, Queensland, from Friday 12 June to Sunday 14 June.

To mark the resort’s 21st anniversary and $50 million update, Ramsay is flying in to host a series of lunches and dinners showcasing some of his signature dishes. He cooks, he talks, you eat, you laugh. It’s three courses of big giggles, salty talk, spicy themes, classy dining and Hardys wines.

“It’s going to be a pretty intimate affair, so people can ask questions and hopefully learn a lot during the course of a lunch or dinner,” says Ramsay. “The other shows that I’m doing in Australia are a lot more hectic and I’ll be demonstrating in front of 2500 at a time. I attended the Good Food & Wine Show in Sydney last year and it was totally overwhelming and I’m looking forward to going back and doing Melbourne as well.”

Melbourne is on Ramsay’s mind quite a bit at the moment, with his plans for a Maze restaurant moving apace. “I‘m thrilled to be working with Crown and to be playing such a huge role in their third hotel,” he says. “The building is coming along brilliantly and you should see the plans for my restaurant: it’s going to be amazing. The restaurant will be based on Maze, which I first opened in London and has since become a huge success in New York, Prague and soon to be in South Africa.” Ramsay says he and his crew are especially keen to get their hands on the fruits of the labours of local farmers and fishermen. “I’m most excited about working with Australian produce. You’re lucky to have some of the best ingredients in the world.”

Some Sydneysiders have questioned the G-man’s choice of city for his first Australian venture, but Ramsay is adamant that the Victorian capital has long been his preferred option. “Melbourne is really into its food, there’s a lot of competition out there,” he says. “It has an amazing relaxed café culture and, with so large a population of Italians, a very foodie culture.”

He’s quick to point out, though, that Sydney is still a favourite destination, whether it’s for mucking about with his old mate Matt Moran or heading down to Bondi Beach’s Icebergs Dining Room and Bar. “I love Icebergs: the stunning views over Bondi, the fresh, local produce. I love their beautiful hand-dived Hervey Bay scallops.

“I think the style of dining in Australia is much more relaxed than in the United Kingdom or US. There’s obviously a lot of alfresco dining and barbecuing because of the weather,” says Ramsay. “People want to be able to make dishes that can be prepared in advance and thrown on the barbie at the last minute. And the seafood on offer is incredible.”

Back home, Ramsay says, the global credit crunch is being felt keenly in restaurants, and though it’s something he’s tweaking his restaurants to roll with, he’s nonetheless optimistic. “I’m very aware that you have to react instantly to changing trading conditions: cutting down on overheads, reducing costs, tapering menus – you have to react straightaway,” he says. “We opened the York & Albany in London as the credit crunch hit and we’re offering an £18 lunch menu.” Nowadays, Ramsay says, you have to offer some sort of bargain or extra dimension to the experience so customers feel they’ve had an amazing time. “A good deal, they don’t question the bill and they’ll hopefully come again – soon – to repeat the experience.”

Sanctuary Cove, though, is more a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Premium wines, a luxe setting, a goodie bag stuffed with hundreds of dollars worth of treats from Royal Doulton, San Pellegrino and Hardys, and Ramsay’s own books, plus the food and company of the naughty man himself. It is, as Gordon might put it, pretty f***ing good. We can’t wait to see you there.

Bookings for Gordon Ramsay at Sanctuary Cove arebeing taken at ticketek.com.au and on 13 28 49. For more information about the resort, go to hyatt.com.

Sponsored by Hardy's, Royal Doulton, Sanctuary Cove and S. Pellegrino

PHOTOGRAPH JULIAN KINGMA

This article appeared in the April 2009 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.