Steve Drake | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Culinary career | |
| Cooking style | British cuisine |
Rating(s) | |
Current restaurant(s) | |
Previous restaurant(s) | |
Award(s) won | |
Steve Drake is a British chef who has held a Michelin star at three restaurants, including his current establishment, Sorrel. He has previously worked under a number of chefs, including Nico Ladenis and Marco Pierre White.
He began his culinary career working in a café making bacon sandwiches. [1] After culinary school he began working under Keith Stanley at The Ritz London Hotel, at the age of 17 in 1990. He was staying in shared accommodation, and met a fellow chef who was working at Nico Ladenis' restaurant. Drake went for an interview and gained a job there, staying for a year. [2]
He moved to work at Pied à Terre under Tom Aikens during the period when Aikens had just taken over from the previous chef. He only stayed for a few months an interviewed for a job at the Oak Room, working for Marco Pierre White. On his first day there, his job was to prep the tomatoes for a crab dish. On the second day a chef on the fish section left, and White placed Drake onto the section, where he stayed for the rest of the time at the restaurant. [2]
After Gordon Ramsay left Aubergine, Drake was brought in as a sous chef under William Drabbel for the reopening of the restaurant. He left the restaurant to become a head chef at Drake's on the Pond in Abinger Hammer, Surrey. [2] Whilst he was there, Drake won the Roux Scholarship in 2001 and travelled to France to work at L'Auberge de l'Eridan. [3] It was the third time that Drake had reached the final of the scholarship, having done so previously in both 1999 and 2000. [4] In 2003, Drake's on the Pond was awarded a Michelin star. [2]
Drake left the restaurant shortly afterwards to become chef proprietor at Drake's, in Ripley, Surrey, purchasing the restaurant from Michel and Dorothy Albina. [5] It was awarded a Michelin star in its first year, and three AA Rosettes. [2] [6]
Drake left Drake's restaurant at the end of August 2016 to set up a new venture [7]
In 2017 Drake launched Sorrel a 32 cover restaurant in a red brick building on South Street in Dorking, Surrey [8]
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