My nephew works for Gordon Ramsay (he's the 'different chef' referred to in Chanteyranger's post of 01:27 above.) He has followed him to three different restaurants over the years, and despite being headhunted by various household names, wouldn't work for anyone else.

I've met Gordon several times now, and firmly believe the following to be true, even if mutually exclusive: Gordon has immense personal charm; he makes you think you matter, even when there's no advantage to him. He is considerate to his staff, and rewards ability; he is inconsiderate to his staff, and makes demands on them which verge on slavery sometimes. He has absolutely no tolerance of the second-rate. Anyone who stays the distance in one of his restaurants will end up as a chef with the best CV in the world, grateful as hell, and glad they don't have to do it all again. He has had his sensitivity filter removed, so that he will make the cruellest remarks to harmless people who get deeply hurt. The bottom line, though, is that he's close to genius as a cook - I tend towards inverse snobbery when it comes to food, and don't know one end of a classy menu from the other, but when I've eaten at Claridges I've had no trouble recognising that I've moved into a different dimension.

Oh, and as far as I can tell on my limited acquaintance, the 'trade-mark' swearing is just that: he turns it on in the kitchen and when the cameras roll. His decision: his multi-millions.