Florida Keys Gets Spotlight in New Gordon Ramsay ‘Uncharted’ Series

UK chef and TV celebrity Gordon Ramsay explored the Florida Keys with one of Key West’s best-known culinary tour guides – fisherman, chef, distiller and kitesurfer Paul Menta. The famously short-tempered Ramsay brought his team to Key West for an episode of the National Geographic series Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, which debuted on Mon., May 27 at 9pm on NatGeo, Hulu and Disney Plus.

Turns out Ramsay, whose South Florida restaurants include Hell's Kitchen and Lucky Cat in Miami and Miami Beach, was easy to get along with. “He was one of the nicest guys,” says Menta of the Key West First Legal Rum Distillery. “He’s a great guy to hang out with.”

For the show, now in its fourth season, Ramsay and his crew travel to remote locations in search of culinary inspiration and cultural experiences – the jungles of Guyana, Norway’s Viking country, Sumatra, Morocco’s Middle Atlas Mountains, among other destinations. In his visit to the Keys, Menta made sure to explore the simple foods inspired by the Keys.

Menta says Ramsay’s visit was not the usual Key West experience. “There was no Mallory Square, no drinking, no partying,” he says. Instead, they traveled by boat throughout the Keys to see firsthand the treasures of the sea: “The ocean is our farm.”  

They also visited Grimal Grove, Big Pine Key, Patrick Garvey’s garden of breadfruit and rare tropical fruits. Other local experts included key lime pie author David Sloan and Pastor Jonathan Carey of Glad Tidings Tabernacle, who shared information about Key West’s rich Bahamian food culture.

Ramsay was exposed to simple, local cooking and the unique culture of the Keys. “We talked about kitesurfing and Conch cooking,” says Menta. There was a cookoff – “my sous chef was my 13-year-old niece” – but no spoilers here: viewers have to watch the show to find out the outcome.

Menta was pleased at the opportunity to showcase the beauty of the Keys, through its mangroves, rose apples, stone crabs and local dishes like grits and grunts for the global celebrity. “He got it,” he says.