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Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay says his ultimate dream is to open a small restaurant in the South Island.
The 41 year-old enfant terrible said he would do the opposite of what he has done his entire working life.
"I would open one day a week and close six days," Ramsay said.
"I don't want to die over the stove. I want a life and I want to live it," he told TV One's Close Up last night.
Famous for his colourful language and tumultuous television shows, Ramsay said New Zealand's produce was "extraordinary".
He said he didn't like to use produce "that's travelled half way around the world to get to your plate" but acknowledged that New Zealand growers were "stuck between a rock and a hard place".
There is a big enough national market for New Zealand's produce without having to send it overseas, Ramsay said.
Despite all the time out to write books, travel and create television shows Ramsay said he still cuts it in the kitchen.
Interviewed by Mark Sainsbury as part of a publicity tour in Australia, Ramsay said: "I've been 21 years at the coalface. Have I lost my touch? No."
- NZ HERALD STAFF
