There was a time when Gordon Ramsay was the darling of the nation, the once protege who displaced his mentor, then the king of British gastronomy, Marco Pierre White. Like his mentor, he has achieved three stars and so much more. I remember my first brush with Gordon Ramsay food, albeit indirectly. It was on a Singapore Airlines flight to London, Gordon as a consultant for the airline’s menu. I remember being impressed then with his credentials, late thirties and already a qualified genius of his craft. And I still respect Gordon Ramsay for what he has achieved

Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, Official site Wilton Place SW1X 7RL (0)20 7235 1200  Knightsbridge Tube £ 75.00 ala carte, £ 35.00 set lunch In the searing heat of the 2006 summer, Jennie Bond presented the first episodes of the Great British Menu. The premise was cook-off between some of the best chefs in the country to decide who would cook for the Queen’s 80th birthday bash. It doubled as a campaign to promote what was then, a rather low view on British haute cuisine. Back then, I was but a wide eyed boy mesmerised by the unfolding glamorous world of gifted men of sharp tastebuds and in command of ultra fresh ingredients. The pudding that made it to the Queen’s table wasn’t a molecular gastronomical concoction dreamed, instead it was a custard tart Marcus’ mum made when he was a child. I watched his intense concentration in baking that tart on TV and just the mere sight of the finished product had me salivating. I have nothing but immense respect for Mr Wareing, the perfectionist, the disciplinarian, the first Ramsay Protégé and abit of a personal cooking god for me. Three years later, with but a grain of sand’s worth of gastronomical knowledge, I am upon the footsteps of Wareing temple at Berkeley Hotel, the site formerly of Petrus and I am here to eat a perfect egg custard tart

Gordon Ramsay looms over British cooking like a big bad shadow. He owns no less than ten restaurants (in the UK) under his label and his formidable marketing machine is used extensively to turn those restaurants into brand names in their own right. All that gloss is seemingly a way of guaranteeing a quality fine dining experience, albeit one that feels manufactured (aren’t they all to some extent?) . My visit to Maze was not based on Gordon’s merit alone, rather I was drawn to the man in the kitchen, Jason Atherton. He has gained a cult status since opening Maze and I had to find out just how creative his unique taster menu really was