Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, a man known as much for his yelling as his cooking, just launched Heddon Street Kitchen, his latest London restaurant. But mischief was afoot on opening night: Ramsay believes a competitor booked 100 fake reservations, per the Independent, leading to a mostly empty house:
"I think there's all that level of envy. Saturday was our first big day opening (of Heddon Street Kitchen). We had 140 on the books and we had 100 no show. So someone's literally online..."
Ross asked whether it was deliberate and Ramsay replied, "Yep, sabotage. It's bad spirit and you see the staff and they are down and frustrated, I was there to pick them up and make sure we stay focused. Now we're going to reconfirm every table."
Ramsay levied the allegations during an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show, a talk show on ITV in Britain. He did not, however, call out his suspect by name.
Heddon Street Kitchen is the 12th restaurant Ramsay has opened in London. His company, The Gordon Ramsay Group, operates 24 restaurants worldwide.
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