Entertainment NOW

Entertainment Now | December 11 - 17, 2021 By Sarah Passingham TV Media C elebrity chef Gordon Ramsay ("Hell's Kitch- en") has spent more than two decades of television appearances building his reputation as a prickly, potty- mouthed Brit. Naturally, he has expanded his TV hosting empire beyond the borders of food into travel, and this time he has brought two of his buddies along for the ride. The new special "Gordon Ramsay's Road Trip: European Vacation," airing Monday, Dec. 13, on Fox, follows Ramsay and his companions — French ser - vice industry expert and host of "Million Pound Menu" Fred Sirieix and Italian celebrity chef and "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here" winner Gino D'Acampo — as they take a road trip around Europe. Along the way, the three well- traveled hosts make some eventful stops in their respective homelands. D'Acampo shows Ramsay and Sirieix what Naples' markets have to offer before they pack up for his friend's vow renewal on the nearby island of Sardinia. In France, Sirieix is re - sponsible for hosting the very first oyster festival in the seaside town of Arcachon, and has brought along some help in the form of top chefs Ramsay and D'Acampo. Ramsay, meanwhile, who was born in Scotland, brings his two travel buddies with him to cook for the chief of Clan Ramsay — they also, of course, take part in Ceres' High- land Games while there. The three gregarious hosts each show off just how an eventful feast is done in three beautiful — very different — countries, with some healthy competition between them. Each known for being big per- sonalities in their own right, combined they make a team ripe for misadventure. Sitting down on "The Jona- than Ross Show," a late-night British TV staple, to discuss film- ing the series, host Ross wanted to know what Sirieix learned "about food from these guys [Ramsay and D'Acampo], that you didn't already [know]." Sirieix responds that the two chefs have very "different phi- losophies," explaining, "Gordon [Ramsay] is always faster, high- er, bigger, and Gino [D'Acampo] is minimum effort, maximum satisfaction." Never one to hold back, Ram- say adds that D'Acampo is "lazy," however it's all clearly just friendly ribbing among close friends, competitors and travel comrades. And "close" may be an understatement, from what Ramsay revealed in that same "Jonathan Ross Show" interview. After eviscerating D'Acampo for his lackluster camper-van driving skills along the Italian leg of their journey, Ramsay shared a story of the night he awoke to find the Italian chef cuddling him during an over- night stay in the vehicle. D'Acampo logically explains to the audience that he "was scared," while Ross felt the need to ask the trio, "Have the three of you thought about relation- ship counseling?" Ramsay is certainly no strang- er to the world of culinary travel. In his National Geographic se- ries "Gordon Ramsay: Unchart- ed," the celebrity chef treks solo all over the world, met by guides in each locale, and getting his hands dirty while learning about unique regional cuisines and in- gredients. He has explored high- altitude cooking in Peru's beau- tiful Sacred Valley and received a lesson in harvesting taro root by foot in Hawaii, to name just a couple of his knowledge-ex- panding experiences. In exchange for his one-of-a- kind experiences, the chef gives back with a lovely feast of thanks in each location, bring- ing his own style to a menu made with uniquely local ingre- dients. Often the most enjoyable part of the series is seeing the culinary authority try to get the knack of new (to him) methods and measures. Ramsay is likely the best known of the "European Vaca- tion" travelers this side of the pond, having made a splash with the American versions of his culinary TV shows "Hell's Kitchen" and "Kitchen Night- mares," which began airing in the mid-2000s. While D'Acampo's resume is a bit more varied, having hosted the game show "Gino's Win Your Wish List" since 2018, he's always kept a foot firmly plant- ed in the food world (his most popular production is likely the docuseries "Gino's Italian Es- cape"). Sirieix, meanwhile, is best rec- ognized by TV audiences for his appearances on the dating show "First Dates," in which he offers his thoughts on romance while couples' first dates are filmed. The maître d'hôtel is also active in charity work focused on equi- ty between front-of-house and back-of-house workers in the service industry. In other related news, Ramsay and Fox Entertainment an- nounced this past August that they had partnered to create Studio Ramsay Global, which will produce lifestyle and food programming for Fox's plat- forms. This deal expands Ram- say's production company, Stu- dio Ramsay, which is behind D'Acampo's show "Gino's Ital- ian Family Adventure" and the upcoming Ramsay-hosted com- petition series "Next Level Chef," premiering in January on Fox. Delighted about the new ven- ture, Ramsay said in a Fox news release, "I couldn't be more ex- cited about this new global partnership with Fox. After 16 incredible years [of] working to- gether, this takes Studio Ramsay to the next level!" Don't miss Ramsay, D'Acampo and Sirieix in the de- licious special "Gordon Ram- say's Road Trip: European Vaca- tion" when it premieres Mon- day, Dec. 13, on Fox. And fans of the special can keep the action going with "Gordon Ramsay's Road Trip: Christmas Vacation," airing the following day. Fred Sirieix, Gordon Ramsay and Gino D'Acampo in "Gordon Ramsay's Road Trip: European Vacation" Travel buddies: Ramsay takes scenic route through Europe with celebrity pals 2 | Cover story A/Grindstone Charlie's B/Norris Insurance 1 x 4" Moore's Home Health 5 x 2"

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