Glynn Purnell

Last updated

Glynn Purnell
BornJanuary 1975
Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, England
Children3
Culinary career
Cooking styleModern British
Current restaurant(s)
  • The Mount by Glynn Purnell
    Plates by Purnell's
Previous restaurant(s)
  • Jessica's Etoile Michelin-1.svg
    Purnell's Etoile Michelin-1.svg
    The Asquith
Television show(s)
  • Great British Menu
Award(s) won
  • Michelin star Etoile Michelin-1.svg

Glynn Purnell (born January 1975) [1] is an English chef, restaurateur and television personality from Birmingham. Formerly head chef at Jessica's, he is the proprietor of The Mount by Glynn Purnell and Plates by Purnell and was until 2024 head chef at Purnell's. Both Jessica's and Purnell's were awarded a Michelin star.

Contents

Early life

Purnell was born in Chelmsley Wood, a large council estate in north Solihull; the Birmingham Post has described him as "undoubtably the finest chef to hail from Chelmsley Wood", [2] and he calls himself the "Yummy Brummie". [1] [3] His father worked in a factory, and his mother was a dinner lady. [4] [5] One of four children, when he was young he used to cook for his younger brother and sister, feeding them beans on toast with curry powder and chopped onions. [6] His first experience working in a kitchen was when he did work experience at the Metropole Hotel at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre at the age of 14; when he left school, he returned there for a six-year apprenticeship. [6]

Career

Chef

Purnell's career in fine dining started in 1996 when he joined Andreas Antona at Simpsons restaurant, then based in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, as chef de partie. [7] While there he worked on placements with other notable chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Gary Rhodes, [8] and at restaurants in Lyon, Montpellier and the Basque Country. [6] In 2002 he worked for six months as sous chef at Claude Bosi's Hibiscus restaurant in Ludlow, Shropshire. [8]

In 2003 Purnell was appointed to his first head chef role at Jessica's in Edgbaston, Birmingham, which in 2005 was awarded the first Michelin star given to a Birmingham restaurant and the same year was also named English Restaurant of the Year by the AA. [6]

Purnell left Jessica's in 2007 and opened his own restaurant, Purnell's in Cornwall Street, in Birmingham city centre. Purnell's was awarded a Michelin star in January 2009, [8] and itself won the AA Restaurant of the Year award in September of the same year. [9] The restaurant also won the Square Meal Best Restaurant of the Year Award in 2012. [10]

In August 2010 it was announced that Purnell would be opening a second restaurant, The Asquith, an "ambitious, neighbourhood restaurant", in the premises of the former Jessica's in Edgbaston. [11] The Asquith closed in April 2011 due to a dispute with the building's landlord, [12] and in 2015 the building was converted to residential use. [13] Purnell subsequently opened The Mount by Glynn Purnell, a gastropub in Henley-in-Arden, [14] [15] and Plates by Purnell's, a tapas restaurant, [16] in Birmingham. [1]

Purnell's closed in October 2024 due to reduced bookings, [1] [17] leading to complaints about worthless vouchers. [18] [19]

Television

Purnell is a regular presenter and chef on the BBC show Saturday Kitchen . He has also appeared as judge on Come Dine With Me - Champion of Champions , [20] and featured on Secret Kitchen and Great British Menu . [21] In 2017, he helmed 40 episodes of My Kitchen Rules for its third series. [22]

Books

Purnell's 2014 Cracking Yolks & Pig Tales combines recipes with personal reminiscences, [23] and was followed by two further cookery books, Rib Ticklers and Choux-ins (2016) [24] and A Purnell's Journey: There and Back Again (2020). [25] [26] He has also published two children's books, The Magical Adventures of Whoops the Wonder Dog (2018) [27] and Arnold the Alpaca (2021). [28]

Personal life

Purnell has three children. [29] [30]

Related Research Articles

As with any large town or city, food and drink has played an important role in the commerce and culture of Birmingham, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Le Gavroche</span> Restaurant in London, England

Le Gavroche was a restaurant at 43 Upper Brook Street in Mayfair, London. It was opened in 1967 by Michel and Albert Roux at 61 Lower Sloane Street, its premises until 1981. Albert's son Michel Roux Jr was the chef patron from 1991 until its closure in 2024. It was the first restaurant in the UK to be awarded three Michelin stars, which it held from 1982 to 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Roux</span> French chef (1941–2020)

Michel Roux, OBE, also known as Michel Roux Snr., was a French chef and restaurateur working in Britain. Along with his brother Albert, he opened Le Gavroche, which subsequently became the first three Michelin starred restaurant in Britain and The Waterside Inn, which was the first restaurant outside France to hold three stars for 25 years.

<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.

Paul Merrett is a British TV personality and chef. [1][2] based in Godalming who is known for being a frequent guest chef on Saturday Kitchen, a resident chef on Sunday Feast, and starred in The Best along with Silvana Franco and Ben O'Donoghue. Paul Merrett owns and runs the Victoria Pub and Dining Rooms in Sheen. He has been awarded a Michelin star twice, and is the author of Using the Plot: Tales of an Allotment Chef (2008).

Martin Lauris Blunos is a British TV chef. Blunos earned two Michelin Guide stars at his restaurant Lettonie, first in Bristol and then in Bath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Kitchin</span> British chef (born 1977)

Thomas William Kitchin is a Scottish chef and owner of The Kitchin, where he became Scotland's youngest winner of a Michelin star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andreas Antona</span> Greek-Cypriot chef

Andreas Antona is a Greek-Cypriot, British chef and restaurateur. Now the Chef-Patron, and owner, of Simpsons, one of Birmingham's four Michelin starred restaurants, and The Cross in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. Antona was a mentor to several other successful Birmingham chefs early in their careers, including Glynn Purnell, Luke Tipping and Andy Waters, and has been described in The Times as "the godfather of modern Birmingham food".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Kerridge</span> British chef (born 1973)

Thomas Kerridge is an English chef. After initially appearing in several small television parts as a child actor, he decided to attend culinary school at the age of 18. He has since worked at a variety of British restaurants, including the Rhodes in the Square and Adlards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Clifford (chef)</span> British chef

Daniel Clifford is an English chef who is best known for his work at the two Michelin star restaurant Midsummer House. He was also named one of the winners of the 2012 and 2013 series of the BBC television show the Great British Menu. He was chef patron of a gastro pub in Little Dunmow, Essex, named The Flitch of Bacon, which held one Michelin star from 2018 to 2021. Daniel is married to his wife Alice and has five daughters and two stepsons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Bosi</span> Michelin-starred chef

Claude Bosi is a French chef. His first Head Chef position was at Overton Grange in 1999. He opened Hibiscus in the market town of Ludlow, Shropshire, in 2000 and was awarded two Michelin Stars in 2004. In 2007, he relocated the restaurant to London, where he went on to reclaim the two Michelin Stars in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hibiscus (restaurant)</span> Restaurant in London

Hibiscus was a London restaurant which was owned and run by French chef Claude Bosi. It was opened in 2000 in Ludlow, Shropshire, and won its first Michelin star within a year, and a second in the 2004 Guide. In July 2006, Bosi and his wife Claire announced that they were to sell the location in Ludlow and move closer to London. The property was sold to Alan Murchison, and Bosi purchased a new site on Maddox Street in London. The restaurant closed in 2016.

Harveys was a restaurant in Wandsworth, London, run by chef Marco Pierre White between 1987 and 1993. Its French cuisine was warmly received by food critics, and it was named Restaurant of the Year by The Times in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Whitebrook</span> Restaurant in the United Kingdom

The Whitebrook, formerly known as The Crown at Whitebrook, is a restaurant with rooms in Whitebrook, 6 miles (9.7 km) south-south-east of Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales, near the River Wye and the border with England. The building is thought to date from the 17th century and by the 19th century it was used as a roadside inn. Its restaurant was run by Chef Patron James Sommerin until 2013; it gained a Michelin star in 2007. It contains eight double rooms and a 2-acre (0.81 ha) garden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maison Novelli</span> Restaurant in central London

Maison Novelli was a restaurant in Clerkenwell, Central London, located opposite the Old Session House. It was opened by chef proprietor Jean-Christophe Novelli, and held a single Michelin star in the 1997 Michelin Guide. The restaurant's holding company went into liquidation in 2000, and the restaurant was sold to JJ Restaurants with Novelli remaining on the staff as a consultant and advisor. Maison Novelli was closed in 2003.

Aktar Islam is a multiple award-winning English Michelin-starred chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur.

Peel's Restaurant is situated in Hampton Manor, Hampton-in-Arden. It currently holds one Michelin star and four AA Rosettes. Hampton Manor is a Grade II listed building. Originally the family home of Frederick Peel, son of Prime Minister Robert Peel, the Manor was acquired by hoteliers Derrick and Janet Hill in March 2008. Under the stewardship of their son, James, and daughter in law Fjona, today it runs as a Restaurant with Rooms.

<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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Giddings, Andy; Stanczyszyn, Kathryn (14 October 2024). "Michelin-starred restaurant Purnell's closes". BBC News.
  2. ↑ "Power 50 Profiles – No.14 Glynn Purnell", Birmingham Post, 30 June 2009, archived from the original on 24 December 2010, retrieved 25 August 2010
  3. ↑ Case, Charlie (14 October 2024). "The Yummy Brummie's Michelin-Starred Restaurant Has Closed After 17 Years". Secret Birmingham.
  4. ↑ Laws, Roz (4 November 2017). "10 things you might not know about Glynn Purnell". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  5. ↑ Young, Graham (27 March 2022). "Glynn Purnell's heart-warming tribute after death of mum Patricia - 'even the dog wouldn't eat her gravy'". Birmingham Mail.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Harmer, Janet (18 May 2009), Glynn Purnell, Caterer Search, retrieved 25 August 2010
  7. ↑ Binns, Richard (2004), D'Artagnan and The Three Musketeers (a Midlands culinary epic!) (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2012, retrieved 25 August 2010
  8. 1 2 3 Chefs – Glynn Purnell, BBC Food, retrieved 25 August 2010
  9. ↑ McComb, Richard (29 September 2009), "Birmingham restaurant Purnell's named England's No.1 by the AA", Birmingham Post, archived from the original on 16 October 2009, retrieved 26 August 2010
  10. ↑ Evans, Nicky (27 June 2012). "Purnell's wins BMW Square Meal Best UK Restaurant award 2012". Square Meal. Monomax Ltd. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  11. ↑ McComb, Richard (5 August 2010), "Glynn Purnell and Jamie Oliver to open new restaurants in Birmingham", Birmingham Post, archived from the original on 24 August 2010, retrieved 27 August 2010
  12. ↑ McComb, Richard (7 April 2011). "Glynn Purnell closes Edgbaston restaurant The Asquith after dispute with landlord" . Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  13. ↑ Jones, Alison (29 June 2015). "Former Michelin starred restaurant transformed into luxury apartments" . Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  14. ↑ Sutherland, Gill (24 March 2022). "New gastropub is open for business". Stratford-upon-Avon Herald. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022.
  15. ↑ "Over 1,500 people have tried to book a table at Michelin star chef Glynn Purnell's new pub in south Warwickshire". Warwickshire World. 14 April 2022.
  16. ↑ Sitwell, William (12 October 2023). "William Sitwell reviews Plates by Purnell's: 'Smart tapas in need of some Spanish oomph'". Daily Telegraph.
  17. ↑ Seo, Jungmin (14 October 2024). "'Purnell's has been my proudest moment': Chef Glynn Purnell closes Birmingham restaurant". The Caterer.
  18. ↑ Sandiford, Josh (9 November 2024). "'My £750 vouchers are useless after restaurant closure'". BBC News.
  19. ↑ Bosley, Kirsty (9 November 2024). "BBC Saturday Kitchen chef says 'sorry' after customers 'treated dreadfully'". Birmingham Mail.
  20. ↑ "Glynn Purnell lands starring role in TV Show". www.whatsonlive.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  21. ↑ Richardson, Andy (14 August 2017). "Glynn Purnell: I do TV but I'm just a normal dude". Express and Star. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  22. ↑ Bains, Sanjeeta (21 September 2016). "Glynn Purnell exclusively reveals his big TV secret". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  23. ↑ Birkett, Rosie (19 July 2014). "Book review: Cracking Yolks and Pig Tales". The Guardian.
  24. ↑ Laws, Roz (20 October 2016) [14 October 2016]. "Things to do in Birmingham this weekend". Birmingham Mail.
  25. ↑ Lynes, Andy (8 October 2020). "Book review: There and Back Again: A Purnell's Journey, by Glynn Purnell". The Caterer.
  26. ↑ "Glynn Purnell releases A Purnell's Journey: There and Back Again". Chatting Food. 29 April 2023.
  27. ↑ "Michelin star chef Glynn Purnell writes children's book". www.whatsonlive.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  28. ↑ "Glynn Purnell". Birmingham Living. October 2021.
  29. ↑ "Cover interview: Glynn Purnell". Food and Travel. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  30. ↑ McMullen, Marion (28 November 2013) [4 April 2013]. "Glynn Purnell: I've got the best job in the world". Birmingham Live (interview) – via Get Reading.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.