Ramsay's growing empire

The expansion of Gordon Ramsay's empire continues apace. The enfant terrible of the restaurant scene is to take over the dining room at the London Marriott.

Ramsay, who already has seven restaurants scattered across the capital, plans to install another of his proteges, Jason Atherton, at the hotel's 80-cover Diplomat Restaurant, in Grosvenor Square.

The move comes after Parisian chef Joel Robuchon, who like Ramsay has three Michelin stars, abandoned his plans for the restaurant last month. Atherton, who is currently head chef at another Ramsay restaurant, the Verre at the Dubai Hilton, told Restaurant magazine: "I don't know exactly what Gordon's plans for the restaurant are yet but I'm looking forward to moving back to London."

Ramsay has a track record of installing star students at his restaurants, including Marcus Wareing at the Savoy Grill.

Ramsay's first and flagship restaurant, Gordon Ramsay, in Chelsea, opened in 1998, and earned him three Michelin stars.

He then opened Pétrus, which last year moved from St James's to The Berkeley - where he also has the Boxwood Café. His company has a contract with The Connaught Hotel and he also has the much-lauded Gordon Ramsay's at Claridge's.

Ramsay, thought to be worth over £15 million, also plans to open in Las Vegas - not bad for a man whose football dreams were shattered by injury as a schoolboy with Glasgow Rangers.

But he has suffered some recent set backs. In January he was forced

to close the Michelin-starred Glasgow restaurant Amaryllis, which left 30 staff out of work. That came just days after he shut another enterprise - Fleur in St James's.

Now things are looking up again, with his plans to launch the Marriott restaurant in November, following an extensive facelift by hot New York designer David Rockwell. Former Marriott Grosvenor head chef David Dent said owner Blackstone asked Ramsay to recommend a wellknown chef to move into the restaurant about six months ago: "Robuchon was coming in, but then he backed out. Ramsay then put in a bid for it."