Thomasina Miers

Last updated

Thomasina Miers

OBE
Thomasina Miers on The British Library 2.jpg
Miers in 2021
BornFebruary 1976 (age 48)
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
Education St Paul's Girls' School
Alma mater Ballymaloe Cookery School
Occupation(s)cook, writer and television presenter
Known forFounder of Wahaca
Winner of UK Masterchef (2005)
SpouseMark Williams
Children3 daughters
Wahaca, Covent Garden, 2008 Wahaca, Covent Garden, WC2 (3085088879).jpg
Wahaca, Covent Garden, 2008
Wahaca mobile street kitchen, 2012 Wahaca's Mexican Street Kitchen at Canary Wharf.JPG
Wahaca mobile street kitchen, 2012

Thomasina Jean Miers, OBE (born February 1976) is an English cook, writer and television presenter. She is the co-founder of the Wahaca chain of Mexican street food restaurants.

Contents

Early life

Thomasina Jean Miers was born in February 1976 in Cheltenham, [1] the daughter of (Michael) Probyn Miers, a joiner and furniture maker, [2] formerly a management consultant [3] [4] and Niki Miers, of Guiting Power, Cheltenham. [5] [6] She grew up in "a big rambling house" at Acton, West London. [7] The Miers family, landed gentry originally of Aldingham, Cumbria (then in Lancashire), owned the Ynyspenllwch estate in Glamorganshire until the time of her grandfather, Cmdr Richard Eustace Probyn Miers, RN. [8] Miers has a twin brother, Dighton, and a sister, Talulah. [9] [7]

She was schooled at St Paul's Girls' School, studied modern languages at the University of Edinburgh and studied at Ballymaloe Cookery School. She worked as a freelance cook and writer, with influences from time spent in Mexico. [10] [11]

Career

In 2005, Miers won the BBC TV cookery competition MasterChef , "impressing judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace with her bold and, at times, eccentric cooking style". [12]

She has made two series of cookery programmes for Channel 4 with co-presenter Guy Grieve: Wild Gourmets [13] in 2007 and A Cook's Tour of Spain in 2008. [14] In 2011, she presented Mexican Food Made Simple for Channel 5. [15]

She is co-editor with Annabel Buckingham of the cookbook Soup Kitchen (with an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall). She has also written Cook: Smart Seasonal Recipes for Hungry People, [16] The Wild Gourmets: Adventures in Food and Freedom, with Guy Grieve, [17] and Mexican Food Made Simple. [18]

Miers co-founded Wahaca, which became a chain of Mexican "street food" restaurants, alongside Mark Selby in 2006. [19] The company opened its first restaurant in London's Covent Garden in August 2007 [20] and in October 2008 a second opened at Westfield London. [21] Wahaca launched their first mobile kitchen in 2011, selling Mexican street food on the streets of London. [22] By the end of 2017 Wahaca had 25 branches, [23] and in January 2021 there were 13. [24]

Personal life

Miers is married to Mark Williams, a fund manager at Liontrust Asset Management [25] and they have three daughters. [5] [26]

In January 2019, Miers was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the food industry; she received the honour from the Duke of Cambridge later in the year at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace. [27]

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigella Lawson</span> English food writer and television cook (born 1960)

Nigella Lucy Lawson is an English food writer and television cook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Oliver</span> English chef and restaurateur (born 1975)

Jamie Trevor Oliver MBE OSI is an English celebrity chef, former restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and open many restaurants.

<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">Ainsley Harriott</span> English chef and television presenter

Ainsley Denzil Dubriel Harriott is an English chef and television presenter. He is known for his BBC cooking game shows Can't Cook, Won't Cook and Ready Steady Cook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Ramsay</span> British chef, restaurateur, and TV presenter (born 1966)

Gordon James Ramsay is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall and currently holds eight. His signature restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London, has held three Michelin stars since 2001. After rising to fame on the British television miniseries Boiling Point in 1999, Ramsay became one of the best-known and most influential chefs in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall</span> British chef

Hugh Christopher Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall is an English celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer, and campaigner on food and environmental issues.

<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">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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Hom</span> Chinese-American television chef

Ken Hom is a Chinese-American chef, author and television-show presenter for the BBC, specialising in Asian and East/West Cuisine. Having already appointed an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2009 for "services to culinary arts", he was further appointed an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Rankin</span> Northern Ireland chef (born 1959)

Paul Rankin is a celebrity chef from Ballywalter, County Down, Northern Ireland. Rankin's parents moved back to Ballywalter, where he grew up, some time after he was born. This was stated when he was the subject of an episode of a short programme named Proud Parents on Channel 4, made in 2006.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Franey</span> French-American chef (1921–1996)

Pierre Franey was a French-born American chef, best known for his televised cooking shows and his "60 Minute Gourmet" column in The New York Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Rimmer</span> English chef

Simon Peter Rimmer is an English celebrity chef, best known for his on-screen partnership with Tim Lovejoy.

<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).

Aiden Byrne is an English chef, best known as the owner of a number of establishments including The Collingwood, a bar and restaurant in West Kirby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McDang</span> Thai food expert and chef

Mom Luang Sirichalerm Svasti, who is usually known by his nickname McDang, is a Thai food expert, chef, and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyrus Todiwala</span> Indian chef

Cyrus Rustom Todiwala OBE, DL,, is an Indian chef proprietor of Café Spice Namasté and a celebrity television chef. He trained at the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces chain in India, and rose to become executive chef for eleven restaurants within those hotels. He moved to the UK in 1991 with his family, and following some initial financial difficulties after taking over a restaurant, Michael Gottlieb provided investment funding, allowing Todiwala to open Café Spice Namasté in 1995, the restaurant for which he is best known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wahaca</span> Mexican-style street food restaurant group in the United Kingdom

Wahaca is a UK restaurant group selling Mexican-style street food, co-founded by Thomasina Miers, with 13 branches in the United Kingdom.

References

  1. "The Independent: "My Secret Life: Thomasina Miers, chef & food broadcaster"" . Independent.co.uk. 17 November 2007. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  2. Elliot, Liz (3 January 2017). "An Artist's Cosy 18th-Century Barn". House & Garden. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  3. "MR MICHAEL PROBYN MIERS director information". Company Check. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  4. "Mr Michael Probyn Miers – Director Profile". Endole. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  5. 1 2 "The Telegraph.co.uk: Engagement Announcements". Announcements.telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  6. Cheltenham-born chef, founder of Wahaca Mexican restaurant chain
  7. 1 2 "My secret life: Thomasina Miers". The Independent. 13 June 2009. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  8. Burke's Landed Gentry, eighteenth edition, vol. 2, 1969, p. 433, "Miers formerly of Ynyspenllwch" pedigree
  9. Higgins, Ria (2 November 2014). "A Life in the Day: Thomasina Miers, MasterChef winner turned restaurateur". The Sunday Times. ISSN   0956-1382 . Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  10. "Thomasina Miers". radiorelations.co.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  11. "Miers masters the top notes". pressandjournal.co.uk. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  12. "Thomasina Miers". waterstones.com. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  13. "Wild Gourmets". Channel 4. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  14. "A Cook's Tour of Spain". Channel 4. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  15. "Mexican Food Made Simple". Channel 5. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  16. HarperCollins, 2005, ISBN   0-00-722937-2
  17. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007, ISBN   978-0-7475-9157-3
  18. Hodder, 2010, ISBN   978-0-340-99497-9
  19. Campbell, Scott (7 May 2014). "Wahaca owner's recipe for success". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  20. "Wahaca". Caterersearch. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  21. "Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers to launch second Wahaca". Caterersearch. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  22. Wahaca Mexican restaurant chain
  23. "Locations". Wahaca. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017.
  24. "Locations – Wahaca". Wahaca. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  25. "The Asia team – Who we are – Liontrust Asset Management PLC". www.liontrust.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  26. Urwin, Rosamund (30 January 2017). "Wahaca co-founder Thomasina Miers on Donald Trump, tacos and norovirus". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  27. "Cosmopolitan fan William presents OBE to former editor-in-chief". East Lothian Courier. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
Preceded by
Rosa Baden-Powell
Masterchef UK champion
2005
Succeeded by
Peter Bayless