Gordon Ramsay unveils new female head chef at Royal Hospital Road

Gordon Ramsay has unveiled the name of the new head chef at his three-Michelin-starred flagship restaurant on London’s Royal Hospital Road.

Clare Smyth has taken over the reigns at the Chelsea eatery and now works under executive chef Mark Askew.

She has replaced Simone Zanoni, who is in Versailles to oversee the opening of Ramsay's first restaurant in France next year.

Smyth, a 29-year-old from Northern Ireland, first joined Gordon Ramsay Holdings in 2002 before spending three months in France as a private chef.

She has worked under two three-Michelin-starred chefs and spent 18 months at Alain Ducasse's Louis XV in Monaco and did a short stint at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, before gaining a full-time job at London’s Bibendum.

Smyth is the second female head chef in the Gordon Ramsay stable, after Angela Hartnett, whose new London venue will open on the site of Zen Central, in Mayfair, next year.

Separately, Gordon Ramsay has unveiled the name of its restaurant at Heathrow’s new Terminal 5, which will open in March next year.

Plane Food will be a 180-cover eatery designed by architects Bentel & Bentel. 

New mystery chef at Ramsay's flagship restaurant >>

Gordon Ramsay and Angela Hartnett say goodbye to the Connaught >>

The future is female: Industry leaders and rising stars >>

Royal Hospital Road website >>


By Kerstin Kühn

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