Admitting his restaurants had experienced tough times during the recession, Ramsay was absent for the court proceedings. The 44-year-old entrepreneur denied a few months ago that his global restaurant empire had debts mounting to £10million stemming from the recession combined with poor bookings.

One of the restaurants, Heathrow’s Plane Food at Terminal 5, received a 14-day grace period before an amount has to be paid to the Inland Revenue. As for the other one, Maze in West End London, it received a 63 day grace period before facing the tax man.
 
The celebrity chef cut his losses recently by retrieving his investment from one restaurant project in Prague and by selling two in London.

Inland Revenue representatives said they had couldn’t reveal the amount owed by Ramsay on those two specific premises.

In an interview with fashion magazine The Stylist, Ramsay said the difficult economic conditions experienced during the recession made him a wiser and stronger man.

Last summer, the chef had to sell his Ferrari and had even tinkered with the idea of getting rid of his family home after finding he owed the taxman £7million and that his global business was bleeding money by the millions.

In more cheerful news, it was reveal this autumn that the celebrity chef would the subject of a new animated cartoon series.

Canadian animation firm Cuppa Coffee Studios said it was working with the famous chef to create stop-motion animated shows.

The series, totaling 20 episodes, will be called “Gordon Ramsay, At Your Service”.