William Sitwell

Last updated

William Sitwell
Born
William Ronald Sacheverell Sitwell

(1969-10-02) 2 October 1969 (age 54)
London, England
Education Eton College
Alma mater University of Kent
Occupation(s)Editor, columnist
Employer The Daily Telegraph
Relatives Sir Sacheverell Sitwell, 6th Baronet (grandfather)
Sir George Sitwell, 8th Baronet (brother)

William Ronald Sacheverell Sitwell DL (born 2 October 1969) is a British editor, writer and broadcaster. He is also a restaurant critic for The Daily Telegraph and the former editor of Waitrose Food .

Contents

Early life and education

Sitwell is the younger son of Francis Trajan Sacheverell Sitwell (1935–2004) and the grandson of writer and critic Sir Sacheverell Sitwell, 6th Baronet. He is the great-nephew of writer Sir Osbert Sitwell, 5th Baronet and of poet and critic Dame Edith Sitwell. He is the heir presumptive to the Sitwell baronetcy currently held by his elder brother Sir George Sitwell, 8th Baronet. [1] [2] [3] [4]

He was educated at Eton College and the University of Kent, where he 'wrote a stupid kind of gossip column in the student newspaper.' [5] [6]

Career

Sitwell is a regular on the television series MasterChef UK as a quarter final judge. He sets the brief for one group of quarter finalists, and acts as the third judge alongside John Torode and Gregg Wallace.

Sitwell has written several internationally successful books on food: Eggs or Anarchy: The Remarkable Story of the Man Tasked with the Impossible: to Feed a Nation at War (2016), A History of Food in 100 Recipes (2017), The Really Quite Good British Cookbook (2017), and The Restaurant: A 2,000-Year History of Dining Out (2020). [7]

Controversy

In 2018 freelance journalist Selene Nelson emailed Sitwell, suggesting features on vegan-friendly recipes. Sitwell replied "How about a series on killing vegans, one by one. Ways to trap them? How to interrogate them properly? Expose their hypocrisy? Force-feed them meat?"

After Nelson made Sitwell's response public, Sitwell resigned as editor of Waitrose Food, the in-house magazine for the Waitrose supermarket. [8] [9] The row caused much controversy over free speech and whether making an offensive joke was a sackable offence. [10] Sitwell later met Nelson in person to apologise. [11] He has since joined The Daily Telegraph as a restaurant critic, and hosts a dining programme with the paper called William Sitwell's Supper Club. [12] [13] In April 2020 he appeared as a guest in an episode of MasterChef, challenging contestants to produce "a plant-based dish". [14]

In 2019, Sitwell wrote in The Daily Telegraph that 104 Restaurant Notting Hill, a restaurant he reviewed, had made threatening calls to him. [15] Richard Wilkins, the chef of 104 Restaurant Notting Hill, took umbrage with Sitwell's views in the Telegraph and took Sitwell to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), which found, after an investigation, that the newspaper accurately reported the situation and did not breach its policies. [16] [17] Ultimately, all charges were dismissed. [18]

Political views

In March 2024, Sitwell described himself as "a long-term Conservative supporter". Writing ahead of the 2024 general election, he stated that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt should "go out in a blaze of Conservative economic glory." Sitwell added that Hunt "could slash taxes, hand power to the regions (giving Councils real power to make a difference), roll out actual, working broadband (in rural areas and on trains), cancel HS2, stop the self-diagnosed as mentally oppressed from getting sick notes from their pliant GPs, champion our cities as places for the super-wealthy to invest and unlock the barriers to building development." [19]

Personal life

Sitwell has been married twice and has four children. [20] He was married firstly to Laura McCorquodale on 4 September 2000. They had two children and were divorced in 2017.

Sitwell was married secondly on 1 December 2017 to Hon Emily Lopes, daughter of Henry Massey Lopes, 3rd Baron Roborough. They have two sons:

Sitwell is godfather to Mary, daughter of Conservative MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scotch egg</span> Boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat

A Scotch egg is a boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs and baked or deep-fried.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacheverell Sitwell</span> English writer

Sir Sacheverell Reresby Sitwell, 6th Baronet, was an English writer, particularly on baroque architecture, and an art and music critic. Sitwell produced some 50 volumes of poetry and some 50 works on art, music, architecture, and travel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Sitwells</span> 20th century sibling writers and literary personas

The Sitwells, from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, were three siblings who formed an identifiable literary and artistic clique around themselves in London in the period roughly 1916 to 1930. This was marked by some well-publicised events, notably Edith's Façade with music by William Walton, with its public debut in 1923. All three Sitwells wrote; for a while their circle was considered by some to rival Bloomsbury, though others dismissed them as attention-seekers rather than serious artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osbert Sitwell</span> English writer (1892–1969)

Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet CH CBE was an English writer. His elder sister was Edith Sitwell and his younger brother was Sacheverell Sitwell. Like them, he devoted his life to art and literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Aikens (restaurant)</span> Restaurant in London, England

Tom Aikens was a London Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant operated by the eponymous chef from April 2003 opening to January 2014 closure. The restaurant received mostly positive critical reception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Sitwell</span> British antiquarian writer and Conservative politician

Sir George Reresby Sitwell, 4th Baronet was a British antiquarian writer and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1895.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sitwell baronets</span> Baronetcy in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom

The Sitwell Baronetcy, of Renishaw in the County of Derby, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 3 October 1808 for Sitwell Sitwell, Member of Parliament for West Looe. The Sitwell family had been ironmasters and landowners in Eckington, Derbyshire, for many centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough</span> British peer and Liberal politician

William Henry Forester Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough, known as The Lord Londesborough from 1860 to 1887, was a British peer and Liberal politician. He was also one of the main founders of Scarborough FC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomasina Miers</span> English cook, writer and television presenter

Thomasina Jean Miers, OBE is an English cook, writer and television presenter. She is the co-founder of the Wahaca chain of Mexican street food restaurants.

<i>The Daily Telegraph</i> British daily broadsheet newspaper

The Daily Telegraph, known online and elsewhere as The Telegraph, is a British daily conservative broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was founded by Arthur B. Sleigh in 1855 as The Daily Telegraph & Courier. The Telegraph is considered a newspaper of record. The paper's motto, "Was, is, and will be", was included in its emblem which was used for over a century starting in 1858.

Nicholas Keith Arthur Jones, is an English restaurateur and club proprietor. He is the owner of the Babington House hotel and health club and founder and former chief executive of Soho House UK Ltd, which specialises in luxury private members' club venues with restaurants, cinemas, health spas and bedrooms, with some aspects open to the public. Jones retains a minority shareholding (10%) in the Soho House group.

Alexis Pascal Gauthier is a French chef. He is the chef patron of the Gauthier Soho restaurant in Soho, London and was awarded a Michelin star in 2011. He previously held a Michelin star as head chef of the restaurant Roussillon in Pimlico, London, until 2010. He trained under Alain Ducasse at Le Louis XV in Monaco, and has appeared as a judge on two versions of the BBC One television show MasterChef. He became a vegan in 2016 and changed Gauthier Soho to a vegan menu in 2021 and opened 123 Vegan, a vegan cafeteria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Abbott</span> Royal Navy Admiral (1942–2015)

Admiral Sir Peter Charles Abbott was a Royal Navy officer and Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clare Smyth</span> Northern Irish chef

Clare Smyth is a Northern Irish chef. She is the Chef Patron of three Michelin starred Core by Clare Smyth which opened in 2017. Previously she was Chef Patron at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay from 2012 to 2016, won the Chef of the Year award in 2013, and achieved a perfect score in the 2015 edition of the Good Food Guide. Smyth has also appeared on television shows such as Masterchef and Saturday Kitchen. Smyth also notably catered at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 2018 wedding.

Sir George Reresby Sacheverell Sitwell, 8th Baronet is a British businessman.

<i>Living on the Veg</i> Television show

Living on the Veg is a British vegan cookery programme that first aired in 2020 on ITV. It is hosted by the cookery writers and bloggers Henry Firth and Ian Theasby, a duo known as BOSH!. Each episode features a series of recipes cooked by Firth and Theasby, and a guest who talks with the hosts about food and their work. It is produced by produced by Rock Oyster Media and distributed by Cineflix Rights. Living on the Veg is ITV's first vegan cooking programme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Square (restaurant)</span> London fine dining restaurant

The Square was a London fine dining restaurant, opened on 13 December 1991 in St James's. Since its opening, it had been co-owned by chef Phil Howard and wine expert Nigel Platts-Martin. It also earned its first Michelin star in 1994 and retained it from then on. After relocating to Mayfair in February 1997, The Square won a second Michelin star in 1998, which it retained until 2016, the same year when Howard and Platts-Martin sold the restaurant to a company held by Marlon Abela. It regained its first Michelin star in 2017. It closed on 31 January 2020, causing the restaurant to lose its star the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Aikens</span> English Michelin-starred chef

Tom Aikens, also named Tom Aitkens, is an English Michelin-starred chef. Aikens briefly worked for chefs in London and Paris restaurants. Under his tenure from 1996 to 1999 as head chef and then chef patron, Pied à Terre earned its two Michelin stars in January 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Fauxmagerie</span> Vegan cheese shop

La Fauxmagerie Ltd is the UK's first vegan cheese shop. It sells plant-based substitutes for dairy cheese, operating a retail store in London's Shoreditch area as well as selling online and wholesale. Founded in 2019, the shop's range includes vegan versions of Camembert, Cheddar, goat cheese, blue cheese, and feta. La Fauxmagerie received press attention in 2019 after Dairy UK, a lobby group, threatened to sue them over the use of the phrase "plant-based cheese". It is operated by the Welsh siblings Rachel and Charlotte Stevens. Both founders follow a vegan diet and play an active role in the day to day running of their Shoreditch store and product development.

Greens was a restaurant at 41 to 43 Lapwing Lane in West Didsbury. An existing vegetarian restaurant, Greens was reopened in 1990 by Simon Rimmer and Simon Connolly after they spotted it in a pub, and Rimmer became its chef after discovering that they could not afford to hire someone. The restaurant appeared in the AA guide for 31 of the next 33 years, became the first purely vegetarian restaurant to appear in The Good Food Guide, and has appeared on a number of 'best of' lists, with MasterChef winner Simon Wood spending a period cooking there between winning and setting up his own restaurant. A sister restaurant opened in Sale, Greater Manchester, in July 2022, which remained open after the West Didsbury branch closed in 2024 as part of a cost-of-living crisis.

References

  1. Burke’s Peerage , Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 3653
  2. Sansom, Ian (6 May 2011). "Great dynasties of the world: The Sitwells". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  3. Sitwell, William (11 March 2011). "Edith Sitwell, eccentric genius". The Daily Telegraph . ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  4. Latham, Laura (9 June 2019). "Inside William Sitwell's historic family home". The Telegraph . ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  5. Sitwell, William (2 October 2019). "Eton's Tory alumni are part and parcel of what makes my old school so great". The Telegraph . ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  6. "William Sitwell: My Life in Media". The Independent . 10 September 2007. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  7. "William Sitwell books and biography | Waterstones". waterstones.com. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  8. "Waitrose Food editor quits over vegan row". 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  9. Waterson, Jim (31 October 2018). "Waitrose magazine editor quits after joke about killing vegans". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  10. Williams, Zoe (31 October 2018). "Why William Sitwell's vegan mockery is not a sackable offence | Zoe Williams". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  11. Sitwell, William (5 January 2019). "William Sitwell meets the woman who called him out for 'vegan-killing' comments: This time I'd 'gone too far'". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  12. "'Killing vegans' ex-editor joins Telegraph". 3 January 2019. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  13. "The Telegraph presents William Sitwell's Supper Club – Telegraph Events". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  14. "BBC MasterChef, Series 16 Episode 9". Archived from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  15. Sitwell, William (11 July 2019). "When chefs bite back: 'As soon as my restaurant review appeared, the threats started…'". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  16. "Restaurant Critic Accuses London Chef of Threatening Behaviour After Negative Review". 11 July 2019. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  17. "Critic Cleared of Press Harassment After Reporting Harassment by London Chef". 4 November 2019. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  18. "06020-19 Wilkins v The Daily Telegraph". Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  19. Sitwell, William (30 March 2024). "Tuckwell's fish and chips campaign demonstrates just how far the Tories have lost the plot". The Telegraph . ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  20. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke’s Peerage , Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
  21. "Jacob Rees-Mogg on Instagram: "Mary wearing her Christmas present from her kind godfather, William Sitwell. On the whole I think one of me is enough."". Instagram. Retrieved 3 January 2023.