Gordon Ramsay Has Been Hanging in Delco. We Think We Know Why
He's also been spotted in Reading and at Ursinus College in recent days.
Gordon Ramsay walking down Meadowbrook Avenue last week near Wilson’s Secret Sauce barbecue restaurant in Upper Darby, just outside of Philadelphia (photo provided)
Best of Philly-winning Wilson’s Secret Sauce barbecue restaurant in Upper Darby was closed to the public last week. But there wasn’t exactly a lack of activity surrounding it. Based on the various trucks and equipment seen outside, a television crew was clearly afoot. But why? The restaurant wasn’t saying.
Then, on Friday, Wilson’s Secret Sauce reopened for business. I stopped in. The dining room had a new look. Cozier. The menu went through a drastic change: from 70-some items to 13.
And then I learned that local residents had spotted (and, in at least one case, photographed) foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay of Kitchen Nightmares fame strolling down a street, just steps from the restaurant.
X marks the spot: The X represents where Gordon Ramsay was spotted last week, just steps from Wilson’s Secret Sauce barbecue restaurant in Upper Darby. (photo by Victor Fiorillo)
No one at Wilson’s Secret Sauce is talking about whether Ramsay was working with the restaurant or whether the shop will be featured on a future episode of Kitchen Nightmares or some other Gordon Ramsay vehicle. But a TV crew? Gordon Ramsay sightings nearby? A huge menu becomes a tiny one? Dining room makeover? That has Kitchen Nightmares written all over it.
The new smoked brisket platter at the just-reopened Wilson’s Secret Sauce barbecue restaurant in Upper Darby, which may or may not have just been visited by Gordon Ramsay for Kitchen Nightmares
Residents in Reading also spotted Ramsay in recent weeks. He was reportedly working at Marvel Ranch, a quaint spot known locally for its cheeseburgers and pancakes. That restaurant isn’t uttering the name Gordon Ramsay either. But Marvel Ranch was closed the week before Wilson’s Secret Sauce closed to the public. And a TV crew was on hand there as well.
In other words, I wouldn’t bet $1 billion that Gordon Ramsay just transformed Wilson’s Secret Sauce. But I’d certainly bet $1,000.
Another local Gordon Ramsay spotting? He grabbed a coffee at the Starbucks at Ursinus College. No, he wasn’t remaking the Starbucks. Ramsay, a big fan of bicycling and one who has competed in triathlons, told fans there that he was biking back to Philadelphia. Interestingly, you can bike from Reading to Philadelphia by way of the Schuylkill River Trail, which runs right by Ursinus College.
If, in fact, Gordon Ramsay has done a Kitchen Nightmares treatment on Marvel Ranch and Wilson’s Secret Sauce, I certainly hope it’s a boon for business. That’s not always the case. Kitchen Nightmares couldn’t save longtime West Philly restaurant Zocalo. And things didn’t exactly work out at Fishtown’s Hot Potato Cafe after Ramsay did his thing.
Kitchen Nightmares ran on Fox from 2007 until 2014. Then Fox brought it back for an eighth season in 2023 and a ninth, which debuted on January 7th.
