Can you believe this? Gordon Ramsay is getting sued for a million. Apparently, Martin Hyde (whose kitchen was featured on Kitchen Nightmares) says that he got ridicule, not constructive criticism, and that his reputation was ruined after Gordon called him a “lazy t*****” on national TV.

Oh, grow up, Martin. Almost everyone gets humiliated on Gordon Ramsay’s show — or reality shows, for that matter.

Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi sure knows how to wow the crowd. While she’s not going to win any awards for her cuisine, she gets the men’s vote for her spice — even when she’s just walking on the sidewalk.

Hung Huynh, who was the winner of Top Chef’s third season, has accepted a one month contract as executive chef of Solo Restaurant (New York).

We wonder how he’ll add his unique Asian touch to the Solo’s Meditteranean menu.

Oprah refused to allow celebrity chef, Paula Deen, to guest on her show.

Paula Deen had hoped to advertise her product, Smithfield Foods Hams. But Oprah may have heard of her employees’ allegations that she abuses her staff. (They are trying to form a union.)

It’s a blow to Paula, since much of her core market — the women who shop for the food — are quite receptive to Oprah’s opinions.

Neither Oprah nor Paula have made any official statements about the incident.

Celebrity TV chef John Burton Race came home from a stint in a reality show to find that his ex-wife had put his restaurant for sale. We thought it was a case of “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Then it turned out to be garden-variety bankruptcy. Race owns half a million pounds and the bank had called in a refinancing company.

Race has received a lot of offers for the restaurant, including one from a celebrity chef. He’s also planning to put up another restaurant.

Note to chefs: never leave your kitchen unattended, especially if your wife hates you.

Australian TV chef John Burton Race got the shock of his life the day after he got booted from the show “I’m a Celebrity…Get me Out of Here!” While he was traipsing around the rainforest, his wife (who he was in the process of divorcing) had closed down his Devon restaurant and fired his entire staff. Workers said they were given only 2 days’ notice, and after Sunday lunch time, they had to empty the fridge and throw out all leftovers. Suppliers — who were just as clueless as everyone else — had abandoned orders of paper towels and oil by the doorway.

The restaurant — Michelin-starred and worth about £1.2 million — was the whole world to John Burton Race. Workers tried to call him but the production company said they couldn’t get in touch with him. “I am annoyed because I have just lost my job overnight and I do not understand why,” said one waiter. Others who stayed in staff accomodations also lost their homes.

Well he’s not the only one left dazed and confused. Calls from irate workers were what woke him up his first morning back in the “real world”. Of course, that’s what he gets for dumping his wife so unceremoniously.

Is this a joke?

Jamie Oliver supposedly made a big boo-boo while talking to Angelina Jolie about her movie, Beowulf.

Jamie kept mentioning Jolie’s daughter Shiloh, but somehow his tongue got all tangled (Angelina must have that effect on men) and kept saying “Piloh S**” instead of Shiloh Pitt.

The chef supposedly apologized to Angelina by sending her a gift of pudding he made from Cheerios cereal. If it is true he’s lucky she doesn’t throw it at his face.

It’s funny: while women are traditionally seen queen of the kitchen, the professional culinary world tends to be very discriminating of female chefs.

Daniel Rogov, wine and restaurant critic says: “Many men who encourage or ‘allow’ women to enter the kitchen often do so only at an entry level and rarely allow them to rise to that point where they will become serious competition for themselves.”

He adds that since 17th century America, the belief that women can only be chefs in taverns and corner restaurants, while the more exclusive places were ruled by men. In England, women handled the kitchens of Princes, Dukes and Earls, while men handled the meals of the King and Queen. “Not a single woman has ever been admitted into the ranks of the Royal Society of Chefs,” he says.

The belief is that women lack the management skills to handle the chaos of a large kitchen, even if in equally creative and pressure-packed industries like publishing and TV, they consistently lord over staffs much larger than the typical restaurant crew.

Celeb chefs are huge opinion makers, and it’s not uncommon for them to spin that image to their advantage by releasing cookbooks or endorsing products. But critics are wondering when they should draw the line. For example, Anthony Bourdain was disgusted by Rachael Ray’s decision to plug Dunkin Donuts, a product not really known for its refined flavor (more of refined sugar).

“She’s got a magazine, a TV empire, all these best-selling books — I’m guessing she’s not hurting for money,” said the Kitchen Confidential chef. “She’s hugely influential, particularly with children. And she’s endorsing Dunkin’ Donuts. It’s like endorsing crack for kids.”

The endorsement comes amid reports of increased juvenile diabetes, and in some people’s opinion, runs counter to TV chefs’ efforts to teach families to cook delicious, nutritious meals. Jamie Oliver, after all, actually went school cafeterias to think of non-greasy alternatives to the average school lunch.

Before Food Network, before celebrity chefs were even a million-dollar brand, there was Julia Child. She was the food guru, and many a housewife made her cookbook their kitchen bible. (To the gratitude of their well-fed husbands.)

Now, her life will be made into a movie, starring no less than Meryl Streep. It will be directed by Nora Ephron, and will be based on Julie Powell’s book, Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen.

Julie was a fan who made it her mission to try every single recipe Child ever made, but the renowned chef would have nothing to do with her and never returned her calls. “I’m just not interested,” she said in one of her final interviews.

Maybe having Oscar-winner Meryl Streep portray her will make her feel a little better.