Why Gordon Ramsay Always Skips Airline Meals

As the host of multiple food-related shows and the world-renowned chef with dozens of restaurants to his name, Gordon Ramsay certainly does a lot of traveling — and, when he does, he does not eat the food given to him on an airplane. In fact, Ramsay told Refinery 29 in 2017 that he avoids it at all costs.

Ramsay said, "There's no f***ing way I eat on planes. I worked for airlines for ten years, so I know where this food's been and where it goes, and how long it took before it got on board." Ramsay doesn't go into the gritty details about why the behind-the-scenes of airline food makes him so averse to eating it, but he does offer a tip: Eat before you board.

According to Ramsay, he does his best to eat prior to catching his flight and prefers to "keep it light" at an Italian bar, if possible. "A nice selection of Italian meats, a little glass of red wine, some sliced apples or pears with some parmesan cheese, I'm like a pig in s**t," he says.

On his YouTube channel, Gordon Ramsay took viewers behind the scenes at his restaurant, Plane Food, which is located at terminal five of London's Heathrow Airport. In the video, Ramsay explained why he created Plane Food, saying, "The idea behind Plane Food is simple: I'd like you to eat incredibly well before takeoff."

Ramsay continued by noting that the restaurant is designed for a quick meal — he says that all customers will be served within just 10 minutes so that flyers don't have to rush to catch their plane. Plus, Plane Food was designed to look like any other nice restaurant that you would find outside of an airport — with a well-designed menu to go with it. Ramsay continued, "For me, it's a great way of taking that stress out of that journey, with a good meal."