By Oliver Farrimond
FEARED French food critic Francois Simon has slammed Gordon Ramsay’s new Parisian restaurant, saying that it serves up ‘photocopier food’.
Simon accused the Scottish born master-chef’s dishes of being ‘repetitive’ and ‘not interesting’.
His withering remarks will come as bad news to Ramsay, whose culinary empire is reportedly suffering from the effects of the global recession.
Speaking in an interview, Simon said: “Quite frankly, it’s just another gastronomic restaurant: boring, pompous and very expensive – I’d already eaten the same thing in Tokyo and all his restaurants in London.
“It’s a cuisine of duplication – repetitive cuisine is not interesting. It’s like a photocopier: it is Xerox food.”
His criticism came despite the restaurant being awarded two stars from the Michelin Guide.
Gordon Ramsey now has 12 Michelin stars to his name.
And short-tempered Scot said last March at the opening of the restaurant that he had “had a belly-full of the French coming over here and telling us how s**t our food is.”
The restaurant – which has only ten tables – is at the Trianon Hotel in Versailles, one of France’s most history-steeped and picturesque regions.
But Francois Simon said that he would rather eat in one of the local bistros.
He added: “It’s great for Gordon Ramsay, as he’s someone who works very hard and has a great deal of talent and has perfectly understood how international gastronomy functions.
“But it’s as if you invited me to dinner and offered me a pre-prepared dish you bought from a shop.
“Of course it’s good and you’ve warmed it up nicely, but I’m not interested in tasting it. I want to taste YOUR food.”
Simon Francois is world-famous for his devastating criticism – his surly columns for Le Figaro are legendary, and the character Anton Ego in the Disney-Pixar animated film Ratatouille is based on him.
Foie gras, roasted fig and Scottish venison were among the dishes tested out by Simon at the 75-seat brasserie.
A spokesman for Gordon Ramsay said that he had full faith in his team of chefs at the restaurant, and that they were delighted to receive two Michelin stars.
