On the 24th of June, last year British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay opened yet another high-end restaurant in West London.
The latest addition to the Ramsay branch is a new take on authentic Japanese cuisine and culture. The restaurant named ‘Lucky Cat’, after the Asian talisman for luck, replaced Ramsay’s renowned restaurant ‘Maze’, which according to chef was a difficult and risky decision to make.
Though Ramsay has opened several Asian style restaurants worldwide, Lucky Cat has seemingly received more attention than many of the others within the first months after its launch. With a mix of critique as well as praise, the most striking comments made by critics and f&b professionals has revolved around the larger concept of the restaurant as an ‘authentic Asian eating house’.
In recent years, cultural appropriation has been a major topic of discussion worldwide. In Britain, a number of restaurants and food branches have been accused of cultural appropriation in the food products they provide where, in other words, the British businesses are taking foreign cuisines and either stereotyping or misrepresenting them. Lucky Cat is only the latest in this series of food and beverage controversies.
To the East Asian food writer Angela Hui who attended an opening event at Lucky Cat, Ramsay’s new restaurant was far from the 30’s Tokyo eating/drinking dens that had been promised, and more offensive to Japanese culture than a tribute to it. The writer claimed that instead of representing Japanese cuisine in particular, the restaurant stereotyped Asian culture and cuisine, merging multiple Asian cultures as has often been done by Western brands and restaurants.
On the other hand, Ramsay’s Lucky Cat has been given much praise for it’s cool and creative interior. the restaurant’s decoration has been completed by a successful London design studio owned by Afroditi Krassa. One of the most striking aspects of the interior look at Lucky Cat is the darkness of the place. Opposing the conventional light and colourful outlook of restaurants in the 21st century, the restaurant’s head architect had a vision that resulted in black walls and an incredibly dark look for Lucky Cat. The dark look was also a decision made by the architect to intentionally make it difficult for Instagram pictures to be taken inside the restaurant.
With positive versus negative feedback aside, Lucky Cat has received an incredible amount of attention since its opening, and as it is Gordon Ramsay’s first major restaurant launch in London for years, the talk of it isn’t likely to die down anytime soon.
Follow up with this intriguing article about celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s fail in cooking Pad Thai
