Gordon Ramsay sits on the huge white leather banquette, like Poseidon on his oyster-shell throne. Flunkies flit around as outside the sun glints on the rooftops of Versailles. Beneath us a brigade of chefs go through their paces once more in a kitchen “the size of the Stade de France”. We are in what Ramsay hopes will become the jewel in his crown, in the Trianon Palace hotel, which sits like a lady-in-waiting beside the palace proper. It’s hard to imagine a more prestigious location, and marks his journey from the backstreets of Glasgow to the court of kings.

“Ask any chef and this is where they really want to succeed,” he says. “This is the one I’ll be judged on. This is the cradle of haute cuisine.”

He has taken charge of the room service, banqueting and 75-seat Veranda brasserie in the newly refurbished hotel – where the Treaty of Versailles was drawn up in 1919 – but it is the fine dining restaurant that he really has his eye on. “From a business point of view it doesn’t stack up: just ten tables, five dinner services, Tuesday to Saturday, and two lunches on Friday and Saturday, but it won’t be until I get three stars in three cities that I’ll have achieved what I set out to achieve. I’m two thirds of the way there – one star missing in New York, and three here.”

He has come out for a menu-tasting with his head chef, Simone Zanoni, who for five years maintained three stars at Royal Hospital Road. They are trying a beauty pageant of puddings that may graduate on to the fine dining menu: a carpaccio of pineapple with mascarpone ice-cream and lychee jelly; mango terrine with passion fruit sorbet; and a crème brûlée with wild strawberries “three ways”.

“The huge advantage we have here is the produce,” says Ramsay. “You go to Versailles market and you’ll find 2kg sea bass or 2kg John Dory, and that’s just for the locals. You’d struggle to find that at a specialist supplier in London. People ask what ingredients we’ll be bringing from Britain, and the answer is only the things French chefs would buy from Britain: the langoustines, the hand-dived scallops… I don’t want to be like French restaurateurs who arrogantly bring French food to London. I want to bring our style of cooking to Versailles, but to adapt to local products.”

He also hopes to shake up some of the formality of French haute cuisine. So there’ll be an English Breakfast amuse-gueule of scrambled eggs, haricots blancs in tomato sauce and ventrèche bacon; a spoon made of mustard-spiked pastry to accompany a rabbit pot au feu; and peanut butter parfaits and ice-creams. “I want to bring in a bit of humour, to knock out some of the stuffiness. We’re coming out of the traps at full pelt. Full artifice from day one. Believe me, I don’t want to make the same mistakes as New York.”

Ah yes, New York. He describes his opening at the London just over a year ago as the toughest time of his life. There were staffing issues, the building work overran by three weeks “so we had to cancel bookings and piss people off before they’d arrived”, and to cap it all, Frank Bruni, The New York Times critic that all others follow, gave a decidedly lukewarm review, lamenting the dearth of inspiration and excitement, and giving a kicking to one of Ramsay’s signature dishes, turbot poached in St Emilion, for good measure.

“New York was the toughest opening, no two ways about that, and of course I got upset by the level of criticism. Two stars out of four was never what I expected. But we learnt a lot and won’t make the same mistake again. This time we’re running without f****** breathing.”

The man he has to worry about now is François Simon, the vinegary arbiter of taste at Le Figaro. Unlike many of his compatriots, he is happy to concede that British food is no longer a national joke and he is not hidebound by a love of classicism. However, he is no fan of chefs with large empires, believing stars such as Alain Ducasse, Joël Robuchon and Paul Bocuse shine because of the successful roll-out of their concept more than the brilliance of their talent. Does he include Ramsay among their number?

“The French are so arrogant with foreigners, so an Englishman coming to Versailles is a very funny paradox, but it is not necessarily a tasty one. I know his cooking well – it is very pleasant – but the question is why is he coming when there are so many [chefs] who cook as well as him?”

Ramsay will be hoping to provide a few answers. If not, the coronation could turn into a beheading.

Gordon Ramsay at Trianon opens on March 26.

Trianon Palace and Spa, 1 Boulevard de la Reine, Versailles, Paris (00 33 1 30 84 55 55)

Recipes

It’s no secret that I’m reaching for three stars and this week’s recipes, although simplified in parts, will give you an idea of how this tastes.

Halibut fillets with smoked salmon, candied lemon, braised vegetables and horseradish velouté

Tiramisù with coffee granita

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