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Ramsay's Foxtrot Oscar to close for redecoration
25.03.08
Doing it Gordon's way: Gordon Ramsay with Foxtrot Oscar's head chef Gemma Tuley
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Gordon Ramsay has been forced into an overhaul of one of his restaurants just months after its relaunch following a string of bad reviews.
The TV chef has admitted that Foxtrot Oscar, which only opened in January, suffers from a "cold" ambience.
Critics have said the restaurant, in Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, has lost much of its character since it was the favourite burger joint of Princes William and Harry.
Ramsay, 41, now plans to close the restaurant, redesign the interior and remodel it as a £30-a-head, midmarket diner which will become a prototype for a chain across Britain and the US.
A spokeswoman for Ramsay said: "Foxtrot Oscar is being redecorated... The place is heaving, but we have listened to the feedback of customers who said the decor was not up to the food."
Designers are bidding for the work, which will see the restaurant closed for "two or three days" later this year.
The closure is another setback for Ramsay's £100million empire, after he closed La Noisette earlier this month and his French venture in Versailles was slated by a local food critic.
Foxtrot Oscar, just a few doors from his flagship tripleMichelin-starred restaurant, opened in 1980, but was bought by Gordon Ramsay Holdings last year. The company transformed it with a new black and cream colour scheme.
But the Standard's restaurant critic, Fay Maschler, gave Foxtrot Oscar just two out of five stars in January.
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