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From Gordon Ramsay, A Promising Maze Grill

by Zoe Strimpel
Wed, 9 Apr 2008

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Lately, Gordon Ramsay's empire has been showing some cracks. As it expands ever wider, the sense is that it's nothing but a business — not the elite selection of restaurants lovingly serving up the very finest French food, keenly overseen by the chef or his closest acolytes. The Warrington, a Ramsay gastropub that recently opened in Maida Vale, northwest London, was largely panned. Plane Food has just opened in Heathrow's stricken Terminal Five to sneering reviews that mention snooty staff and a sense of grandeur inappropriate to an airport.

That said, tonight's opening of Maze Grill, an offshoot of Mr. Ramsay's fantastically popular and sleek Maze (now an international brand itself), in Grosvenor Square, was so packed and the vibe so feverish you might have mistaken it for an Oscars after-party. Danny Cipriani, the disgraced rugby champion with killer looks, clasped hands with Mr. Ramsay himself. All the editors were out, and so were the paparazzi. It was the place to be. So, presumably, will be the venue itself. Looks like Gordo's got some steam left after all.

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