The Top 20 Chef Kings (Oops, 1 Queen)

Gordon Ramsay rules the roost, in more ways than one

By Marie Morris, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 26, 2009 6:41 AM CDT

Copied

The Top 20 Chef Kings (Oops, 1 Queen) — Mario Batali (No. 8) clowns around with Emeril Lagasse (No.7) and Charlie Trottter (No. 17) at the Palazzo Las Vegas, where No. 3 Wolfgang Puck also has a restaurant, January 17, 2008. (AP Photo/The Palazzo Las Vegas, Bob Riha, Jr.)

The phenomenon of the celebrity chef is well past the saturation point, but the restaurants, cookbooks, kitchen gadgets, and personal appearances keep coming. Presiding over the largest international empire is British pottymouth-cum-culinary genius Gordon Ramsay, according to a new list by New York's Grub Street blog. The Grub Street formula for sizing up empires somehow omits the omnipresent Rachael Ray—Lidia Bastianich is the only woman in the top 20—but includes other Food Network faves. The top five:

Gordon Ramsay
Alain Ducasse
Wolfgang Puck
Joël Robuchon
Nobu Matsuhisa

To see the complete list and get in on the debates raging in the comments, click the link below.
(More Gordon Ramsay stories.)

Report an error