Gordon Ramsay's Open Letter in the London Evening Standard

After chef Gordon Ramsay fired his long-time business partner and father-in-law Chris Hutcheson, Hutcheson spoke to the Daily Mail about it, saying that Ramsay has a svengali-like hold over his daughter and comparing him to, um, Pinocchio. Initially the Ramsays said they wouldn't respond publicly, but today the London Evening Standard published an open letter from Gordon Ramsay (on his birthday!) written to his mother-in-law, asking her to stop "punishing" her daughter. It was ostensibly in response to a letter from his mother-in-law.

If anything the letter is a rebuke to Hutcheson for going public. In the letter, Ramsay admits to hiring private detectives to track his father-in-law and alleges, albeit vaguely, of inappropriate behavior: "The very complex life that Chris leads, has seen many of my key staff feeling they had to cover on his behalf. His away days were rarely what I thought they were. But beyond that, one of my biggest concerns was the business: signing huge contracts in my name and furthermore discovering emails were being looked at." Is this a threat to Hutcheson? That if he keeps talking to the press, Ramsay will reveal exactly was going on during those "away days"?

· Don’t cut off my family: Gordon Ramsay's plea to mother-in-law in sacking row [London Evening Standard]
· All Gordon Ramsay Coverage on Eater [-E-]

Hutcheson and Ramsay. [Photo: NYP]