March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Gordon Ramsay, the U.K. chef known for gourmet food and television tirades, gained a Michelin star today for his Prague restaurant, where he has handed day-to-day management to the hotel in which it’s based.

The award for Maze at Hilton Prague Old Town takes Ramsay’s haul to 13 stars. The chef in “Hell’s Kitchen” and other TV shows has also sold his eateries in Versailles, near Paris, and in Los Angeles as he moves to a consultancy role where he takes a slice of profits without the risk of losses in a recession.

“Gordon Ramsay Holdings will continue to be very involved,” his public-relations company Sauce Communications said in an e-mail on March 14. “GRH will concentrate on the menu development and standards of service while day-to-day food and beverage operation will be handled by the hotel management.”

Ramsay’s restaurant empire spans the U.S., U.K., Ireland, France, the Czech Republic, Japan and Dubai. He plans to add two more London establishments -- Petrus and Savoy Grill -- later this year. Outposts of Maze are opening in Melbourne and Cape Town.

Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd. released accounts on March 2, saying that it had breached some financial covenants and was in talks with bankers that were “progressing positively.” The chef’s spokeswoman declined to elaborate.

Accounting Note

“The group’s forecast and projections, taking account of reasonably possible changes in trading performance, show that the group should be able to operate within the level of its current facility,” said a note to the accounts for the year that ended Aug. 31, 2007. The accounts were filed six months late.

“The group has breached some of the financial covenants within the facility and therefore the group has commenced renewal negotiations with the bank. At this stage the group has not sought any written commitment that the facility will be renewed. However, the group has held discussion with its bankers about its future borrowing needs and is looking to agree terms in this connection. These discussions are progressing positively.”

The breaches were earlier reported by the Financial Times.

Gordon Ramsay Holdings has Royal Bank of Scotland Plc as its bankers and Jeffreys Henry LLP as auditors. Ramsay’s spokeswoman, Jo Barnes, said in a telephone interview after the accounts were published that the chef would have no comment.

Nordic Restaurants

The other big winners in Michelin’s “Main Cities of Europe 2009” are Nordic restaurants, with second stars for Bagatelle, in Oslo, and Mathias Dahlgren-Matsalen, in Stockholm. They join Edsbacka Krog, also in the Swedish capital, Chez Dominique in Helsinki and Noma in Copenhagen as holders of two stars.

There are also stars for Herman and Kokkeriet in Copenhagen; and Frantzen/Lindeberg and Mathias Dahlgren- Matbaren in Stockholm. Details of the awards were sent in an e- mailed release by Michelin, which has published guides for more than a century.

Ramsay is Michelin’s third-most-feted chef, behind his French rivals Joel Robuchon and Alain Ducasse, who hold 25 and 19 stars, respectively. Maze is run by another British chef, Jason Atherton, who developed the menu of tapas-sized servings of Asian-influenced French food after working at El Bulli, north of Barcelona.

Michelin’s “Main Cities of Europe 2009” will go on sale on March 18 at a price of 22.90 euros ($29.60).

(Richard Vines is the chief food critic for Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on the story: Richard Vines in London at rvines@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 16, 2009 04:00 EDT