Le Monde was due to meet Gordon Ramsay near the Sun King's Palace at the Waldorf Astoria Versailles, a luxury hotel that has been home to one of his restaurants for the past 15 years. But as we neared the suite where the rendezvous was to take place, the first person we came across was his bodyguard, a gorilla with an easygoing smile. And when we finally reached the 57-year-old British chef, his hair disheveled and his forehead deeply furrowed, his agent reminded us that we only had 20 minutes for the interview. The kind of welcome you would expect when meeting a Hollywood star.

Ramsay is indeed a star, perhaps the most famous chef in the world. It's been 20 years since the first episode of Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares (which inspired a French version, Cauchemar en Cuisine) aired in 2004 that the host has made a name for himself terrorizing contestants on widely available TV shows. These include Hell's Kitchen, The F Word and 24 Hours to Hell and Back.

These evocatively titled programs have led him to be caricatured as a ruthless bully, even in cartoons and video games. He likes to poke fun at his reputation: In a comedy sketch in which he played himself, he clutched a junior chef's head between two slices of sandwich bread, asking her, "What are you?" To which she replied, "An idiot sandwich!" A scene that achieved cult status online.

And yet, it would be a mistake to think of him as a mere boogeyman. Ramsay is first and foremost an entrepreneur who has turned his name into a label and a stamp of quality. "I have 89 establishments around the world, from top restaurants to brasseries and street food vendors," he said. "And my team numbers around 2,500 employees."

This keen athlete – marathon runner, black belt in karate – with his always well-honed silhouette, loves to take on challenges. He even successfully set up a burger chain in the US. "Everyone thought we were crazy to open burger restaurants in Las Vegas," laughed the businessman. "We started working on our recipes very early on. One of our secrets is to use a very fatty, very fragrant butter to caramelize the toppings. The success of our burgers has never diminished over the last 10 years; we're even considering offering them in France."

The question remains: Behind his media personality and his vast gourmet empire, what defines the cuisine of this entertainer who is as good selling pizzas as gourmet menus? To answer this question, we need to look back at the chef's career, one rich in life-changing encounters and twists and turns.

You have 70.89% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.