Ramsay's meals on wheels

The meals are put in white, unmarked transit vans and distributed to his three gastropubs and Foxtrot Oscar, his bistro in Chelsea.

Dishes such as pork belly, coq au vin, braised pig cheeks and orange and bitter chocolate tart are prepared in bulk before chefs put them in plastic bags and dispatch them across London.

The Narrow in Limehouse, the Warrington in Maida Vale and the Devonshire in Chiswick are also supplied by the central kitchen, near railway arches and a council estate in Clapham.

It was reported today that fishcakes are sold by the central supplier for £1.92 are then priced at as much as £11.25 in the gastropubs - a mark-up of 586 per cent. Diners pay £3.50 for sausage rolls that cost 75p.

The central kitchen is run by GR Logistics, the catering production arm of Ramsay's umbrella business GR Holdings. It is understood he bought the facility from the Roux Brothers after embarking on a massive expansion plan. It was then known as The House of Albert Roux.

The facility's head chef Darran Ridley is quoted today telling an undercover reporter from the Sun: "We provide the majority of the food for Foxtrot Oscar - everything from coq au vin, starters, terrines, snacks, salmon rillettes, various desserts, braised beef in red wine, beef pie mixes. Anything that takes a long time to cook, any braised items or items in sauces - we do all of that.

"We do coq au vin at £2.60 a portion, leg or thigh, in a bag with a sauce. All you have to do is pop it in a pan of boiling water and reheat it. The concept of having the production kitchen was that the kitchens in the pubs and Foxtrot Oscar were small and only have a small number of staff."

The revelation will fuel critics who have complained for several years that Ramsay, widely regarded as the most talented chef of his generation and who runs London's only three Michelin-starred restaurant, has spread himself too thin.

Richard Harden, who runs Harden's restaurant guides, said today: "This does explain what we have always said - that the gastropubs and Foxtrot Oscar are mediocre to poor.

"There is normally nothing wrong with prep kitchens except I am not sure there has ever been a prep kitchen that gets top class standards."

A spokeswoman for Ramsay said today: "The central kitchen is a state-of the-art-facility. It is a Gordon Ramsay kitchen run by Gordon Ramsay chefs cooking Gordon Ramsay food - it just happens to be off site."

The spokeswoman pointed out the kitchens at the gastropubs and at foxtrot Oscar were too small and reheating the food, under a method known as "sous vide", was tried and tested by the world's best chefs.

Ramsay's team has admitted that 50 per cent of the menu at the three gastropubs and Foxtrot Oscar is prepared off-site. But the spokeswoman said no fresh produce, such as cuts of meat, are prepared at the Clapham facility.

The revelations could be damaging. Ramsay has said in the past: "My food hell is any ready meal. It's so easy to prepare a quick meal using fresh produce but people still resort to ready meals that all taste exactly the same."

The chef has received a stream of bad publicity since being exposed in the News of the World for allegedly cheating on his wife.

He was subsequently accused of exaggerating his football career while restaurants abroad have been sold off due to the credit crunch.