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In a recent interview with Esquire Middle East, British chef Gordon Ramsay has spoken out about the pressures of working at the top of the industry, including burnout and the impact on family life.
"Cooking at any high level means you have to become a highly focused control freak,” says Ramsay, “and if you don’t eventually let that go, you’ll kill yourself. We’ve all seen the burnouts, the heart attacks and, more importantly, the suicides. There’s no business or passion that is worth that.”
Asked about how he juggles his own hectic schedule he says, "I have become a lot more focused, actually. I work smarter than I did before, and I think that finding that juxtaposition between hard and smart work is how you find balance. And let me tell you, there is a fine line between overindulgence and burning out, and finding a balance”.
Ramsay, 52, is well known for his fiery outbursts on TV cooking series, yet away from the camera he has a successful career including his 3 Michelin star flagship restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London Chelsea, and over three dozen establishments around the world listing his name as well as recently becoming a father for the fifth time.
Chef welfare has become an increasingly important topic in the industry with more chefs like Patterson, Eric Ripert, speaking out about managing a work-life balance and the impact on mental health, and ultimately bringing into question the actual sustainability of the chef in an industry that combines antisocial hours with a high-pressure working environment.
