Two interesting Vegas tidbits came out of Gordon Ramsay's interview with The Sunday Times. First up, expect his Heathrow Airport restaurant Plane Food to make its way to McCarran International Airport sometime soon.
The Sunday Times describes the restaurant as a something different from the generic snack outlets. "It's a proper restaurant for a start, with its own entrance, an attentive maître d', and the best location in the terminal — the views over the runway through floor-to-ceiling glass windows are spectacular. It has decent lighting and comfortable leather chairs."
At Heathrow, the restaurant serves up a full breakfast menu all day long. "[I]f you're picking up a connection and want breakfast at dinner time, you can have it," and, "Plane Food turns out dishes on a par with Ramsay's bistros Maze and Foxtrot Oscar."
Part of Ramsay's reasoning for turning out higher quality fare: "People who are going to be sitting on their arses for five or six hours don't want to feel stuffed," he says.
Also of note, Ramsay's staff at Plane Food works in his other restaurants "to make sure the restaurant isn't a 'dumbed down' airport eatery."
Also, Ramsay licenses out his name on restaurants, including his three with Caesars Entertainment. Says Ramsay's numbers guy Stuart Gillies, Gordon Ramsay Holdings takes "6-8% of turnover." According to Gillies, "It's a much better deal. Take Las Vegas. We have three restaurants there and they turn over $52m a year. Eight per cent of $52m is a big chunk."
Do head over to Eater National for eight more big reveals from the interview.
· Come Fry With Me [The Sunday Times]
· 11 Big Reveals in Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Times Profile [~EN~]