Thanks to TV series like “Kitchen Nightmares,” Gordon Ramsay is one of the world’s most recognizable chefs. But he’s more than a TV figure known for yelling at incompetent restaurant owners — he’s seriously accomplished in haute French cuisine, and his restaurant empire has amassed numerous Michelin stars.
Over his career, Ramsay’s restaurants have garnered 18 stars, making him the chef with the third-highest number of Michelin starred restaurants, as of 2024. (It’s worth knowing that technically speaking, Michelin stars are awarded to a restaurant, not a chef, so officially, Ramsay’s restaurants hold them.) He’s the highest-ranking non-French chef in that category, too — the only chefs with more starred restaurants than him are Joël Robuchon and Alain Ducasse.
As of 2024, Ramsay’s has eight Michelin stars spread across five restaurants in the U.K. and France. As for the best Gordon Ramsay restaurant, at the top of the list is three-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London, known for refined French-influenced dishes like roasted sweetbreads and lobster ravioli. Next is Le Pressoir d’Argent in Bordeaux, France, with two stars it garners praise for its elegant dining room and French menu featuring lobster, truffles, and caviar.
Three other restaurants have one star: There’s Pétrus, in London, mixing British and French influences across tasting and à la carte menus, and Au Trianon, serving fine French fare right by the Versailles Palace in France. Finally, there’s Restaurant 1890 in London’s Savoy Hotel, Ramsay’s newest star, having received it in early 2024 and drawing on the influences of famed French chef Auguste Escoffier.
Ramsay’s former stars
Beyond the eight stars he currently holds, Ramsay’s restaurants have earned another 10 in the past, across eight restaurants. Most of these restaurants have since closed, therefore giving up their stars by default. Ramsay’s first two stars came at Aubergine in 1995, where he was head chef but not an owner; he notably left over a dispute with the owners, with the restaurant closing a couple of years after.
Many of his other stars came around the early 2000s. A previous incarnation of his restaurant Pétrus earned two stars. All his other former Michelin-recognized restaurants earned one star each. Amaryllis, a restaurant he owned in Glasgow, Scotland, earned one star just a few months after opening for its use of Scottish produce like lobster and lamb. Unfortunately, the restaurant only survived a few years, with Ramsay admitting that the fine dining establishment wasn’t a great fit for a relatively poor city.
Ramsay’s other Michelin restaurants were all in London. There was Angela Hartnett at the Connaught, a hotel restaurant owned by Ramsay but run by the titular Hartnett, known for her Italian cuisine. Another hotel restaurant, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s, held a star for seven years, before going downhill, with Ramsay leaving and the restaurant eventually closing. The list is rounded out by French restaurant La Noisette, Italian restaurant Murano (which closed and since re-launched), and Savoy Grill, a fine British-French restaurant that held one star, which it later lost but the restaurant remains open.
