RamsayWire: Resto Debuting Without Ramsay?

Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood soft opens tonight for dinner with lunch and dinner to start tomorrow. Exciting! But we heard from a tipster who went to a preview a few days ago: "All I can say is that when Gordon Ramsay gets there next week, I expect most of the kitchen staff will be looking for new jobs." Ouchers. Let's break this down. First, friends and family, or mock service dinners, are never perfect---these are for the staff to get their bearings together, to practice what they've learned in training, to test and tweak before the grand debut; certainly if the kitchen or FOH isn't running on all cylinders, there's still time to make it perfect, or perfect enough. But perhaps more importantly, for the first week that his highly publicized Los Angeles restaurant opens---the one touted every week on Hell's Kitchen because the winner of the FOX "reality" show gets to work at said restaurant---Gordon Ramsay isn't even here?

Sure, there's a machine behind the man, but compared to other carpetbaggers who recently opened dining rooms in LA, Colicchio manned the stoves when Craft opened in Century City, Tourondel was here when BLT Steak debuted on Sunset, and even Wolfgang Zwiener worked the room when his Beverly Hills steakhouse opened a few weeks ago. It's rumored Ramsay will be in the house June 4th, which, if true, is one week after the restaurant opens to the public. Of course, there's still a chance he'll appear tonight or tomorrow contrary to any rumormill gossip; afterall, he did make an appearance at the New York debut. It's all a total gamble at this point. Place your bets now.
· Gordon Ramsay at the London: Revealed! [~ELA~]
· Eaters' Journal: London Bar at Gordon Ramsay [Eater NY]