James Nathan is a British barrister, best known as the winner of the BBC's MasterChef 2008, having beaten Emily Ludolf and Jonny Stevenson in the grand final. [1] [2]
Nathan was educated at Millfield in Somerset and Tockington Manor School in Bristol. He trained as a barrister and has a passion for food and cooking from an early age.
Along with his first wife Linsey Stroud, James was co-author of The Trailrider Guide - Spain: Single Track Mountain Biking in Spain. Nathan practised criminal law in Bristkol for two years before moving to Spain with the intention of opening a restaurant.
He has worked at Richard Corrigan’s restaurant, Bentleys Oyster Bar in Piccadilly, Michael Caines’ Michelin-starred Bath Priory in Bath and at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall. [3]
From 2013 to 2016, he ran his own restaurant, The Green Room, at The Retallack Resort near Padstow, Cornwall.
In March 2016, James took over from Nathan Outlaw as Head Chef at The St Enodoc Hotel in Rock, Cornwall. In 2019 he became Head Chef at the Clifton Lido Restaurant, Clifton, Bristol [4]
Christopher Richard Stein, is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur, writer and television presenter. Along with business partner Jill Stein, he runs the Stein hotel and restaurant business in the UK. The business has a number of renowned restaurants, shops and hotels in Padstow along with other restaurants in Marlborough, Winchester and Barnes. He is also the head chef and a co-owner of the "Rick Stein at Bannisters" restaurants in Mollymook and Port Stephens in Australia, with his second wife, Sarah. He writes cookery books and has presented numerous cookery series for the BBC.
As with any large town or city, food and drink has played an important role in the commerce and culture of Birmingham, England.
Marco Pierre White is a British chef, restaurateur, and television personality. In 1995, he became the youngest chef to be awarded three Michelin stars. He has trained chefs including Mario Batali, Shannon Bennett, Gordon Ramsay, Curtis Stone, Phil Howard and Stephen Terry. He has been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" and the enfant terrible of the UK restaurant scene.
John Douglas Torode is an Australian-British celebrity chef and TV presenter. He moved to the UK in the 1990s and began working at Conran Group's restaurants. After first appearing on television on ITV's This Morning, he started presenting a revamped MasterChef on BBC One in 2005. He is a restaurateur; former owner of the Luxe and a second restaurant, Smiths of Smithfield. He has also written a number of cookbooks, including writing some with fellow MasterChef presenter and judge, Gregg Wallace.
MasterChef is a British competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 2005 as MasterChef Goes Large. The revival featured a new format devised by Franc Roddam and John Silver, with Karen Ross producing. In 2008, the name was changed back to MasterChef but the format remained unchanged.
Michael Andrew Caines is an English chef born in Exeter, Devon.
El Celler de Can Roca is a restaurant in Girona, Catalonia, Spain opened in 1986 by the Roca brothers, Joan, Josep and Jordi. It was first located next to their parents' restaurant Can Roca, but moved to its current purpose-built building in 2007. It has been received warmly by critics, and holds three Michelin stars. El Celler de Can Roca was ranked the best restaurant in the world by the magazine Restaurant in 2013 and 2015, and was ranked second in 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2018.
George Dimitrios Calombaris is a Greek Australian chef and restaurateur and television personality. Calombaris was one of the judges of the Network 10 series MasterChef Australia from 2009 to 2019. Prior to his role on MasterChef Australia, Calombaris appeared regularly on the daytime Network Ten cooking show Ready Steady Cook.
Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi is an Israeli-born British chef, restaurateur, and food writer. Alongside Sami Tamimi, he is the co-owner of seven delis and restaurants in London and the author of several bestselling cookery books, including Ottolenghi: The Cookbook (2008), Plenty (2010), Jerusalem (2012) and Simple (2018).
MasterChef: The Professionals is a BBC television competitive cooking show which aired on BBC Two from 2008 to 2019, and on BBC One since 2020. It is a spin-off from the main MasterChef series, for professional working chefs. Introduced in 2008, Gregg Wallace and India Fisher reprised their roles as co-judge and voiceover respectively. Michel Roux Jr., a two-Michelin-star chef, assisted, from 2009, by his sous-chef Monica Galetti. Since 2011, Sean Pertwee has taken over Fisher's role as voiceover.
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.
Nathan Outlaw is an English professional chef who has worked previously with television chef Rick Stein. He now runs his two Michelin star restaurant, Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, in Port Isaac, Cornwall. He has appeared on television shows such as BBC's Great British Menu and Saturday Kitchen.
MasterChef Canada is a Canadian competitive cooking reality show, part of the MasterChef franchise, open to amateur home cooks across Canada. It premiered on CTV on January 20, 2014, and has since aired its seventh season. The show stars three judges: Claudio Aprile, Michael Bonacini and Alvin Leung. The show is produced by Endemol Shine International and Proper Television.
Romy Gill MBE is a British-Indian chef, food writer, author and broadcaster. She was the owner and head chef at Romy's Kitchen in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire. In 2016 she was appointed an MBE in the Queen's 90th birthday honours list. Romy has amassed a number of television and radio appearances, including presenting, co-presenting and judging roles. She regularly contributes to national and international publications, including The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph.
Adam Peter Ritchie Handling is a British chef and restaurateur. He is the owner of the Adam Handling Restaurant Group of four food and drink venues in London, England.
Paul Ainsworth is an English chef from Southampton, England. He is chef-patron at Paul Ainsworth at Number 6 in Padstow, Cornwall which was awarded a Michelin star in 2013 and has four AA Rosettes. After studying at catering college, Ainsworth worked for Gary Rhodes, Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing.
James "Jocky" Petrie is a Scottish professional chef, best known for his work alongside chef Heston Blumenthal as Head of Creative Development of the Experimental Kitchen at The Fat Duck, and as Group Executive Development Chef for Gordon Ramsay. He has regularly appeared as mentor and judge on a number of television shows including MasterChef, Heston's Fantastical Food, In Search of Perfection, and Top Chef Suomi.
Gary Maclean is a Scottish chef, author and the first National Chef of Scotland.
Ping Coombes is a British cook and winner of 2014's MasterChef competition broadcast on BBC One.
Natalie Coleman is a British chef and winner of the 2013 series of MasterChef. She is now the head chef of The Lamb in London and won Best Pub Chef at the 2022 Great British Pub Awards.