Gordon Ramsay roasts Kiwi chef Hercules Noble - Spy

Hercules Noble has been the go-to private chef for Aucklanders in-the-know. Photo / Outspoken

Gordon Ramsay has roasted Kiwi chef Hercules Noble on TikTok, but what’s a Beef Wellington got to do with it, and how did he feel about having the famous foodie weighing in? Ricardo Simich reveals all.

Hotshot Auckland chef Hercules Noble – who cooks for well-heeled society dinner parties and A-list events – has been teased on TikTok by one of his food heroes, UK superstar chef Gordon Ramsay.

Noble, who is famous for creating innovative recipes using sourdough on his social media channels, tried his luck at making Ramsay’s esteemed Beef Wellington ... with sourdough.

Ramsay made a split-screen TikTok of himself reacting to Noble’s efforts.

From the beginning Ramsay said he was nervous for Noble, saying he was a fan of his sourdough, but then says: “Oh no, where is this going, please do not screw my Welly up.”

Once the meat was in the dough, Ramsay said it was never going to work, the meat would be grey and make a “sour Welly”.

When the finished product came out, Ramsay said it looked like a pile of s***.

During the all-important slicing open of the Wellington, Ramsay exclaimed, “Jesus Christ what in the hell is that thing in there? S***!”

Noble posted a TikTok of himself at the front of the split screen with his reaction to Ramsay’s critique, it is a priceless watch.

Noble says when Ramsay first started following him on Instagram, a friend called to tell him while he was in the supermarket.

“Mental, right!? What a fun surprise. I couldn’t believe it. Of course I followed him back,” Noble tells Spy.

“I generally try not to pay too much attention to ‘followers’ as it doesn’t do much for my mental health, but it’s a pretty amazing feeling when someone you’ve grown up watching and admiring, follows you.”

Noble says his heart skipped a beat when he heard about Ramsay’s roast of him.

“It was so fun,” he says. “One day I’ll collab with Gordon, mark my words!”

For several years Noble has been the go-to as a private chef, for events and dinner parties for Aucklanders in-the-know.

At the end of 2022, Spy featured Noble in a list of influencers to watch.

At the time Noble had about 5000 Instagram followers and had just signed with agency Outspoken By Odd. Fast forward to now, the 29-year-old has over 260,000 Instagram followers and more than 75,000 TikTok followers with 1.7 million likes.

Odd now manages Noble’s content creation bookings as well as his private cheffing and he is in demand all over the world.

Noble has a tongue-in-cheek, self-assured style of content creation.

“When I first started out, I tried all sorts of different types and styles of content for a year or two and saw very little growth,” he says.

That’s when Noble created a more immersive series - Will it sourdough?

“Sure, people would mix delicious inclusions into sourdough, but did they make a carbonara or full English breakfast-inspired sourdough? I think not!”

Noble mixes up his content with his work as an A-List chef and other projects like doing up a container bach in Northland, renovating his Parnell home and creating a garden, through to travelling with some rope pull-ups, challenging himself to be able to do 10 pull-ups in a row.

“People love to be told a story online, it gives them a reason to stick around, so that’s all I’m trying to do as I share these projects of mine,” he says.

Noble’s recent trip overseas saw him cook with fellow content creators in New York and cooking and holidaying at an idyllic upstate New York country home.

Noble cooked for a group of friends who had rented out a beautiful chateau in France. Photo / Outspoken

He followed that up with time in London doing content collaborations and then cooked for a group of friends who had rented out a beautiful chateau in Bordeaux, France.

“Spending some time in America and London really was an awesome experience,” he says. “I was able to link up with some awesome content creators who have inspired me along the way.”

Since he’s been back in Auckland, he has introduced chickens to his vege garden. His friendly demeanour and authenticity in making his own food, makes the content as engaging as his recent travels.

Noble insists it’s not all glamour.

“While cooking for people is a fulfilling and a nice experience to be part of it can get overwhelming and exhausting,” he reveals. “I don’t want to have another summer like the last one, where work went so well, but I was overly focused on it, and didn’t make enough time to spend with family and friends.”

And although his content creating is nearly earning Noble as much as his private cooking gigs, Noble insists he does it whether he is paid or it is organic.

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop cooking and become a full-time content creator. I cook because I love it.”

In March this year, Special PR enlisted Noble to take KFC into the fine dining stratosphere.

Mr Sanders, a one-of-a-kind pop-up experience restaurant in Ponsonby was created, where Noble elevated the Colonel for three sold-out nights. After the hugely successful activation, rich-listers Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams had Noble recreate his KFC menu at their multimillion-dollar, newly refurbished Westmere home for a birthday last weekend.

Ricardo Simich is the New Zealand Herald’s Spy Editor. Based in Auckland he covers all roads that lead to popular culture.