Ramsay eyes pub chain

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is to swap haute cuisine for pub grub when he opens a chain of bars in Britain.

The foul-mouthed Hell's Kitchen star is already drawing up plans with business managers to snap up a number of country pubs to sit alongside famed eateries Claridge's and The Savoy Grill in his food empire.

Chris Hutcheson, chief executive of Gordon Ramsay Holdings and Ramsay's father-in-law, says: "What we are looking at now is a move into pubs that serve food. I don't mean gastro-pubs - I mean good food."

The busy chef is also preparing to open restaurants in New York and Florida in October and Los Angeles early next year.