**Do You Know Who Gordon Ramsay Is?
- Maria Crespo
- Nov 17
- 3 min read
Well… I Didn’t — Until He Took Over My Kitchen in Oaxaca**
Most people discover Gordon Ramsay on TV. I discovered him when I happily offered my kitchen for free — because I love sharing it. It was actually my friend who insisted I should charge him, since renting out my whole B&B for a filming day meant I couldn’t host any guests… and at that point, I still had no idea who this Gordon person even was.
The Phone Call That Started It All
One ordinary afternoon, I got a call from a friend:
“Hey, how much would you charge Gordon Ramsay to rent your kitchen for a day?”
And, as clueless as I was about who that was, I casually answered:
“Nothing! Tell him he’s welcome. Just make sure he cooks after 12 pm and shares the food with us. who exactly is this again?”
Silence. Then my friend emphasises through the phone:
“IT’S GORDON RAMSAY!!!”
I still had no clue who that was.
Two days later I get a message: “They booked the entire place for a filming day.”
For what exactly? No idea. It turns out that my friend Omar (Oaxaking) was helping Ramsay with the filming of an episode of National Geographic´s Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted
Keep reading to see the final video.. if you haven´t !
The Day My Kitchen Became a Movie Set
Filming day arrived, and suddenly El Diablo y La Sandía — my warm, artistic, always-open-door B&B — turned into a a top-secret mission base.
There were four huge security guys guarding the entrance.The front door was shut. NO ONE was allowed in.
Not even me. In my own B&B.
Luckily, I had no guests that day, because imagine trying to explain:
“Welcome to Oaxaca! Also, you can’t enter because a world-famous chef is making chilaquiles.”
From around 10am to 4pm, my place was completely locked down.I don’t actually know when Gordon arrived or when he left — but I do have my security camera footage.(Which, if I’m ever bored, I may turn into a documentary called: The Day I Was Evicted From My Own Kitchen.)
My Brother, the Messenger of Reality
I still wasn’t fully grasping the magnitude of what was happening, I had a call with my brother — who is much more aware of the world than I am. I told him.
His reaction?
“WHAT?! Maria, this is HUGE! Gordon Ramsay is like the Mick Jagger of cooking!!”
So there it was. My brother, translated the situation into terms I could actually understand.
That’s when excitement finally hit me. Not because I wanted to meet Gordon (I didn’t), but because I thought:
“Wow, the prestige this might bring to my little B&B!”
Spoiler alert: Nothing really changed.
Good thing is, I was already fully booked most of the time, because he never mentioned the B&B in his videos. But I still love this story.
The Famous (and Infamous) Chilaquiles Video
Gordon Ramsay making chilaquiles…in my kitchen.
And then another video. And another. He even filmed a mole video there with Aarón Sánchez.
Apparently there are multiple videos floating around the internet that were filmed at El Diablo y La Sandía.
What surprised me most were the reactions online.
The chilaquiles video became hugely popular…and also hugely criticized by Mexicans.
Comments like:
“Eso NO son chilaquiles.”
“Why do foreigners always reinvent the wheel?”
“¿¡Qué hizo ahí!?”
And I just sat there thinking:
“Ah yes, that’s my kitchen he’s being yelled at in.”
Behind the Scenes? I Have None.
People always ask:
“Did he scream at anyone?”
“Did he break anything?”
“Did you meet him?”
“Can you share behind-the-scenes photos?”
And my honest answer:
I wasn’t allowed inside. I was literally the least important person there.
So… Was It Worth It?
Absolutely.
Even though:
I never met him,
I lost access to my own business for a day,
I got zero publicity, and
We had to eat mole for the next three days…
It’s still one of my favorite stories to tell.
Because how many people can say Gordon Ramsay filmed chilaquiles in their kitchen.
And even if the videos never mention my B&B, they still happened at El Diablo y La Sandía — a place that has welcomed travelers from around the world… and now, apparently, celebrity chefs too.
If you ever stay here, just know: You’re sleeping in a place that once hosted the Mick Jagger of cooking —and temporarily kicked out the actual owner.
And honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Stay tuned for more celebrity anecdotes, I have a couple more!
María
Maria, I absolutely love your post. What a wonderful story! I had the pleasure of staying in your fabulous BnB in January and I can truly say I throughly enjoyed every meal (and the chilaquiles) your beautiful cooks prepared in your kitchen. Not even the world's most famous Hell's Kitchen/Kitchen Nightmare chef would be able to replicate the rustic authenticity of Oaxacan cooking. Gordon gave it go and you had to endure his version of mole for the next three days. So well done! You can use his face now on your wall, beside the diablos.
Me encanto la historia del Chef, y la forma como lo escribiste, no hay manera de ser mas, neta, directa y sensible... Nos encanta tu Diablo y Sandia, he ido con mis hijos un par de veces hace muchisimo que no vamos, pero espero pronto visitarles. Abrazos