There are certain invitations you don’t decline. An intimate evening with Gordon Ramsay in Toronto hosted at Linny’s and attended by a small group of journalists and content creators was one of them. Hexclad hosted the DIVINE meal at Toronto restaurateur David Schwartz’s newest restaurant. The Ossington deli-steakhouse, named after his mother, is known for it’s elevated Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine.
The gathering celebrated Ramsay’s cookware collaboration with HexClad and the tools that have become fixtures in both professional kitchens and serious home cooking spaces. Guests left the evening with two beautifully crafted pieces: a Damascus Steel Chef’s Knife and an End Grain Walnut Charcuterie Board, each available with a personalized engraving. This elegant detail turned practical kitchen staples into keepsakes.
Ramsay, as expected, was direct, animated, and disarmingly candid when discussing how his relationship with the brand began. Like any chef worth his salt (and pepper), he wasn’t interested in marketing promises, he wanted proof.
“My relationship started when Danny [Winer – co-founder and CEO of HexClad Cookware] and I first got together and I said, ‘Look, these are the plans but I need to stress test them,’” Ramsay explained. “So we got this incredible set sent to us at home. I said to Danny, cooking at home is one thing, but how do they stand up in a professional kitchen?”
His answer came quickly.
“I took them straight into one of our flagship restaurants and within hours I was saying, ‘My God, these things are incredible. It’s one thing to use them at home, but how do they stand up to in the kitchen.’ I took them to one of our flagship restaurants and I pushed them, cranked the flames, really worked them. They held up beautifully.”
For Ramsay, the appeal lies in performance. The cookware, he noted, was designed to work as hard as the chefs using it.
“When we started to work together, it was a unique opportunity to get behind something that’s truly groundbreaking,” he said. “The non-stick is unique. In fact, last season on Hell’s Kitchen, it was the first time in 23 seasons that we never had the scallops sent back because the sear was so good. ”
The conversation eventually turned to Toronto itself, a city Ramsay has spent time in over the years. His admiration was sincere.
“It’s a bustling city. An incredible city,” he said. “It reminds me very much of Glasgow—hardworking and humble. The food is incredible, the produce is phenomenal, the wine is off the charts. But it’s the people. They’re incredibly respectful and very hardworking. I feel at home here.”
That sentiment echoed throughout the evening. Between Ramsay’s stories, the clink of glasses, and the buzz of conversation, the night felt less like a formal launch and more like a gathering of people who care deeply about food and the craft behind it.
While Ramsay’s world may be built on Michelin stars and high-pressure kitchens, the message behind the evening was refreshingly simple: great cooking starts at home, with the right tools and the people you share them with. Although dinner at Linny’s wasn’t so bad either!
