Gordon Ramsay’s Next Move Is a Burger Joint at Luxury Department Store Harrods

Gordon Ramsay’s grand burger plans start in a luxury department store

Gordon Ramsay will bring his Las Vegas tribute to the chef/gourmet burger wave of the late 2000s/early 2010s to London, at iconic Knightsbridge department store Harrods, in 2020.

The shouty chef is unusually quiet on what diners can expect, but the restaurant is likely to share some qualities with its namesake at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. There, burgers are cooked over a fire before being heavily accessorised, counter to London’s current moving away from stacked buns towards simpler, smashburger style patties. Toppings include Guinness mustard aioli, Gruyère cheese, mushrooms, and crispy onions on the “pub burger”; Dubliner cheese and mangalitza pork bacon on the “farmhouse burger”; and foie gras, chèvre goat’s cheese, port aioli, and frisée on the “foie burger.” Given the luxury-goods-and-capital surrounds, he might be shooting for some pricing records.

Expected to open late this year, it’s the first strike in what he calls his “billion dollar dining proposition,” for which he accordingly needs substantial investment. Plans to cover the U.K. in 50 burger restaurants may have been slowed down by the novel coronavirus pandemic, but the Ramsay brand name remains potent, even if COVID-19 has proved that over-expanded chains trading on brand names tend to shrink rapidly when there’s a significant downturn.

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• Hospitality workers will protest against the 10 p.m. curfew and other COVID-19 restrictions at Parliament Square this morning.
• Coronavirus can’t keep the eternal Christmas bar pop-up Miracle down — the U.S. staple is opening three locations in London this winter. [Hot Dinners]
• Pret a Manger’s decline continues: it will close another six cafes, at the cost of 400 jobs. [Big Hospitality]
• Good tweet: