Ruth Watson

Last updated

Ruth Watson
Born1950 (age 73–74)
London, England
Occupation(s) Hotelier, restaurateur, broadcaster and food writer
Known forPresenting:
The Hotel Inspector
Country House Rescue
Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue
SpouseDavid Watson (1981-present)
Website Official website

Ruth Watson is an English hotelier, restaurateur, broadcaster and food writer.

Contents

Early life and career

Born in London, Ruth Watson was educated in London and at Westonbirt School in Gloucestershire. After taking up a career in graphic design, she became an inspector for the Good Food Guide . [1]

In 1983, Watson and her husband David bought Hintlesham Hall in Hintlesham, Suffolk, as a restaurant and cookery school from Robert Carrier, [1] which over six years they turned into a 33-room hotel, with an 18-hole golf course. In 1986 she featured with her family in a Bisto gravy advert. In 1990 they bought the Fox and Goose Inn at Fressingfield, launching it as one of Britain's first gastropubs. [2] In November 1999, Watson and her husband bought the Crown and Castle Hotel in Orford near Woodbridge, Suffolk, which they fully restored and ran as a modern country house hotel. In October 2017 Watson sold her interest in the Crown and Castle, stating "dealing with bureacracy[ sic ] has long overtaken the core business of cooking and serving good food".

In 2020 they opened Watson and Walpole, a neighbourhood Italian restaurant, together with their partner and head chef, Rob Walpole. It is listed in the Michelin Guide and rated as Very Good in the Good Food Guide. [3]

In 2010 the University of Suffolk awarded Watson an Honorary Doctorate for services to hospitality.

Formerly Secretary of The Guild of Food Writers she took over as President in October 2024.

[4]

Food writing

Watson's hotel experience brought her to the eye of various publishers, and she was asked in 1994 by friend Delia Smith to be a contributing food editor on Sainsbury's Magazine . Watson subsequently became food editor of the Daily Mail Weekend magazine, for which she was shortlisted for a Glenfiddich Award as newspaper cookery writer in 2001, and won twice as Cookery Writer of the year – in 1997 and 2000. [1] Watson has written three books: the Really Helpful Cookbook published in October 2000 by Ebury Press; the slimming book Fat Girl Slim, [5] while her cook book Something for the Weekend is in its third edition. [2]

Broadcasting career

In 2005, Watson began presenting the Channel 5 television series The Hotel Inspector . In each episode of this observational documentary series, Watson would visit a struggling British hotel and try to turn their fortunes by giving advice and suggestions to the owner. [6] Watson's direct style appealed to viewers and The Hotel Inspector became one of Channel 5's most popular series of the 2000s (the show won a Royal Television Society Award in November 2006). Despite this, Watson decided not to undertake a fourth series, and was succeeded on the programme by hotelier Alex Polizzi.

In November 2007, Watson signed an exclusive two-year deal with Channel 4 to front a number of television shows, the first of which explores the commercial development of Britain's country houses. [2] Titled, Country House Rescue , the series was broadcast on Channel 4 on Tuesday nights in December 2008 – January 2009, and gained audiences of up to 2.7 million on its first run. A mini-series of catch-up episodes were broadcast a year later. A second series of Country House Rescue was commissioned by Channel 4, and started airing from March 2010. [7] [8] A third series aired from March 2011, and a further series of catch-up episodes aired from August 2011. However, Watson has stated on her own website that she will not present any more series of Country House Rescue in the future. [9]

Watson also starred in another TV show that she described as " Grand Designs meets The Hotel Inspector" where she helped aspiring hoteliers start their businesses. [10] The programme, titled Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue , premiered on Channel 4 at 8.00pm on Wednesday, 30 September 2009, [11] and continued to air throughout October of that year. However, Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue was not recommissioned for any further series. [9]

In April 2010, Watson guest-presented the Funk & Soul Show on BBC 6 Music, standing in for Craig Charles. [12]

In 2013, Watson presented Ruth Watson Means Business!, a 15-part series on Channel 4. [13]

Personal life

Watson and her husband live in a 16th-century farmhouse in Suffolk, 15 minutes away from Watson and Walpole in Framlingham. The garden and 20 acres of orchard, fields and meadows have been organic for over 30 years. Hedgerows, copses and hundreds of native and specimen trees have been planted.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Stein</span> English chef

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Blanc</span> French chef (born 1949)

Raymond Blanc OBE is a French chef. Blanc is the chef at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, a hotel-restaurant in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, England. The restaurant has two Michelin stars and scored 9/10 in the Good Food Guide. He is entirely self-taught, but has himself taught or employed other chefs including Heston Blumenthal, John Burton-Race, Michael Caines, Paul Liebrandt, and Marco Pierre White.

A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television is ultimately the primary way for a chef to become a celebrity, some have achieved this through success in the kitchen, cookbook publications, and achieving awards such as Michelin stars, while others are home cooks who won competitions. In South Korea, a celebrity chef is referred as a cheftainer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hintlesham</span> Human settlement in England

Hintlesham is a small village in Suffolk, England, situated roughly halfway between Ipswich and Hadleigh. It is in the Belstead Brook electoral division of Suffolk County Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Carrier (chef)</span> American chef

Robert Carrier McMahon, OBE, usually known as Robert Carrier, was an American chef, restaurateur and cookery writer. His success came in England, where he was based from 1953 to 1984, and then from 1994 until his death.

Lesley Waters is an English celebrity chef. She regularly appeared on such cookery programmes as Ready Steady Cook, and is currently one of the featured chefs on This Morning.

<i>The Hotel Inspector</i> 2005 British TV series or programme

The Hotel Inspector is an observational documentary television series which is broadcast on the British terrestrial television station, Channel 5, and by other networks around the world.

Andrea Oliver is a British chef, television and radio broadcaster, and former singer. She is best known for her appearances on the BBC cooking show the Great British Menu. She is the author of the book The Pepperpot Diaries: Stories From My Caribbean Table, published in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Allen</span> Irish celebrity chef

Rachel Allen is an Irish celebrity chef, known for her work on television and as a writer. She has often appeared on Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ).

Oliver Peter Patrick Peyton,, is an Irish entrepreneur, restaurateur and television personality.

Alessandra Maria Luigia Anna Polizzi di Sorrentino, better known as Alex Polizzi, is an English hotelier, businesswoman, and television personality. Since 2008, she has appeared on The Hotel Inspector on Channel 5.

Country House Rescue is an observational documentary series which airs on British terrestrial television channel, Channel 4. The series has also aired on BBC Canada, ABC1 in Australia and Living in New Zealand and in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Clauchrie House</span> Manor house in Scotland

Black Clauchrie House is a late Victorian manor house, located on the outskirts of the village of Barrhill in South Ayrshire, Scotland, adjacent to the Galloway Forest Park. It is protected as a category C(s) listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pentillie</span> English country house in England, England

Pentillie Castle is a grade II* listed country house and estate on the bank of the River Tamar in Paynters Cross, near to St Mellion, in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. The secular parts of the nearby village of St Dominick once belonged to the estate.

Samantha "Sammy" Leslie is a female Irish hotelier, media personality and reality television show judge. She is the trustee of the Castle Leslie estate in County Monaghan, being responsible for a hotel, a spa, an equestrian centre and an organic cookery school. She acted as a judge alongside celebrity chef Derry Clarke and former radio and television presenter Bibi Baskin in the RTÉ One reality television series Fáilte Towers. She has also appeared on television programmes such as the RTÉ One series The Restaurant, where she appeared as a guest critic, and radio programmes such as the RTÉ Radio 1 programme Conversations with Eamon Dunphy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Dundon</span>

Kevin Dundon is an Irish celebrity chef, television personality and author, known for being featured on television series such as Guerrilla Gourmet and Heat. He is the author of the book, Full on Irish: Contemporary Creative Cooking and his recipes have been featured in publications such as the Sunday Tribune and Weekend magazine in the Irish Independent. He has also cooked for The Queen and both an Irish and a US president.

Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue is an observational documentary television series which aired on British terrestrial television channel, Channel 4 in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gissing Hall</span> Country house hotel in Norfolk, England

Gissing Hall is a listed fifteenth century mansion, situated in five acres of woodland and gardens in the village of Gissing in Norfolk, England. The hall is operated as a hotel and restaurant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrtle Allen</span> Irish chef (1924–2018)

Myrtle Allen was an Irish Michelin star-winning head chef and co-owner of the restaurant The Yeats Room at Ballymaloe House in Shanagarry, County Cork. Besides her career in cooking, she had also been a writer, hotelier and teacher.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ruth Watson". hattowendesign.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 Dowell, Ben (28 November 2007). "Watson checks in to Channel 4". The Guardian . Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  3. ↑ "Crown and Castle" . Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  4. ↑ "RUTH WATSON:The Crown and Castle restaurant with rooms in Suffolk". Archived from the original on 26 October 2018.
  5. ↑ Watson, Ruth. "Fat Girl Slim". Quadrille Publishing. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  6. ↑ "The Hotel Inspector". Five.tv. Archived from the original on 12 August 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  7. ↑ "C4 wants longer run of Country House Rescue". Broadcast . 24 March 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  8. ↑ "Country House Rescue". ruthwatson.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  9. 1 2 "Television". Ruth Watson. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "Ruth Watson ('Country House Rescue')". Digital Spy . 5 December 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  11. ↑ "Queen documentary heads up C4 season". Digital Spy . 26 August 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  12. ↑ "James May to host BBC 6 Music rock show – Media News". Digital Spy. 21 April 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  13. ↑ Foottit, Lesley (6 December 2013). "Hotel Inspector Ruth Watson stars in new TV show". Morning Advertiser . Retrieved 19 August 2015.
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.