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Christmas Cooks
''...Cooks!'' is an ITV television cookery show, hosted by Antony Worrall Thompson, broadcast on the ITV networks between 10 June 2006 to 21 May 2010. Formats There were different names for the show, depending on which day it aired. The Saturday morning show was called ''Saturday Cooks!'', whilst the show that aired during the week was called ''Daily Cooks Challenge''. This series aired in a weekday prime-time slot and from its second series was shot in front of a studio audience. Worrall Thompson, who previously hosted a similar BBC One show, ''Saturday Kitchen'', defected to ITV in June 2006 after being poached from the BBC along with the production company that made the show (Prospect Pictures), in a deal negotiated by Alison Sharman. It was Sharman who originally brokered the deal that brought Worrall Thompson to the BBC on ''Saturday Kitchen'' in the first place, before she herself moved to ITV. A sister programme '' Sunday Feast'' aired on Sunday mornings. The programm ...
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Antony Worrall Thompson
Henry Antony Cardew Worrall Thompson (born 1 May 1951) is an English restaurateur and celebrity chef, television presenter and radio broadcaster. Early life Worrall Thompson was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. His parents, Michael Ingham (real name Peter Michael Worrall Thompson) and Joanna Duncan, were both actors. He was educated at the King's School, Canterbury, where he sustained facial injuries while playing rugby. He had to wait until he was twenty-one years old before he could have plastic surgery to correct the disfigurement. Early career After he left school, he studied hotel management at Westminster Kingsway College. Taking his first catering job in Essex, it is rumoured that his grandmother refused to write to him because she could not bring herself to write "Essex" on the envelope. In 1978, he moved to London and became sous-chef at Brinkley's Restaurant at Fulham Road, becoming head chef one year later. The following year he took a sabbatical in Fr ...
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Brian Turner (chef)
Brian James Turner (born 7 May 1946) is a British chef, writer and TV personality based in London. He appeared as a cook on BBC2's ''Ready Steady Cook'' from 1994, has appeared on numerous occasions on ''Saturday Kitchen'' and has also presented various other cookery programmes. Career Turner was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire. During his early career, his mentor was the food writer and broadcaster Michael Smith. Turner trained at various hotels and restaurants, including Simpson's in the Strand and the Savoy Grill, both under Richard Shepherd. Turner then went to Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne, returning to Britain to work at Claridge's and then in 1971 the Capital Hotel where Turner and Richard Shepherd earned a Michelin star. In early 1973 he took some time to work as a Chef Lecturer. Turner then took over as Chef de Cuisine in 1975 after Shepherd left, and then launched the Greenhouse Restaurant and the Metro Wine Bar. Among the chefs who worked with Turner at t ...
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Aldo Zilli
Aldo Zilli (born 26 Jаnuary 1956) is a celebrity chef specialising in Italian cuisine, based since 1976 in the United Kingdom. One of nine children, he was born in the small seaside town of Alba Adriatica in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, and moved to England at the age of 20. He was the founder and chef-patron of London restaurants Signor Zilli, Zilli Green, Zilli Café, and Zilli Bar. His Italian seafood restaurant, Zilli Fish, closed in 2012. Aldo has written 10 books including two autobiographies, ''Being Zilli'' and ''My Italian Country Childhood'', as well as various cookery books. ''Fresh & Green: over 100 new exciting vegetarian recipes'' was featured in the Telegraph's Top Ten Cookery Books 2012. He has also written for many publications including The Sun, and currently writes a weekly column for the Daily Express Saturday magazine and presents a bi-weekly show on Soho Radio. Zilli regularly appears on television and radio both as presenter and chef. His credit ...
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Rustie Lee
Rustie Lee (born 22 May 1949) is a Jamaican television personality, television chef, actress and singer. She participated on the Channel 5 reality-television show ''Celebrity Super Spa'' in 2013; ITV's ''Who's Doing the Dishes?'', hosted by Brian McFadden, in 2016; and ''Celebrity Coach Trip'' in 2020. Early life She attended the girls' grammar school King Edward VI Handsworth School. Broadcasting career Lee first came to public attention for her appearances during the 1980s on the morning television station TV-am. Following her initial successful period as a chef on TV-am in 1983, Lee took over from Sarah Kennedy on the second incarnation of the ITV gameshow ''Game for a Laugh''. In 2004, Lee appeared on Livings ''I'm Famous and Frightened! 2'', a reality show featuring a number of celebrities staying in a castle over a weekend, taking part in various challenges and looking for paranormal activity, guided by a medium. Viewers voted for their favourite star, and the celebritie ...
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Silvana Franco
Silvana Franco is a British TV personality and chef. Early life Of Italian origin, Franco was raised in Derby. Following chef's training at High Peak College in Buxton, she studied a degree in Home Economics. Career A college work placement with the BBC's Vegetarian Good Food magazine led to a position as a senior writer for Good Food, following which she worked as Food Editor for Marks and Spencer magazine. Her first work in television was with Ainsley Harriott as a food stylist, but she was subsequently promoted to presenter. She starred in the 2002 BBC series ''The Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...''. Franco is the author of several cookbooks, including 'Family Food' (2006) and 'The Really Useful Ultimate Student Cookbook' (2007). Silvana is currentl ...
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Martin Blunos
Martin Lauris Blunos (born 11 April 1960) is a British TV chef. Blunos earned two Michelin Guide stars at his restaurant Lettonie (restaurant), Lettonie, first in Bristol and then in Bath, Somerset, Bath. Early life and career His parents came from Latvia to England just after the World War II. Martin attended Thornbury Castle School where he excelled in Home Economics. Once he'd finished his education, he learned his craft through college training in Cheltenham and Cambridge. His cooking style is influenced by his half Russian half Latvian mother. He did a spell at the Strand Palace Hotel in London, a season in Switzerland and went on a Greek tycoon's yacht before settling down in a job at Lampwick's in Battersea, London. Blunos's first restaurant as chef and owner was Lettonie (restaurant), Lettonie (French for Latvia) in Bristol, which opened in 1988 with a Franco-British style of cooking with some Eastern European elements. He had opened it with his then girlfriend, Siân, w ...
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Paul Rankin
Paul Rankin (born 1 October 1959 in Glasgow, Scotland) 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. On the episode of ''Ready Steady Cook'' first broadcast on Tuesday 26 February 2008, he himself stated he was born in Scotland. Chef In 1989 Paul Rankin opened ''Roscoff Restaurant, Roscoff'', the restaurant that was to become the first to win a Michelin Star in Northern Ireland. Soon after opening, it became the favourite meeting place for the Belfast business and arts community, and people travelled from Dublin simply to experience what was considered to be the best cooking in Northern Ireland at the time. Forced by financial difficulties, Rankin sold the restaurant in 2005. The building is now occupied by restaurant CoCo. Many chefs and he ...
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Sophie Wright (chef)
Sophie Wright is an English chef and the author of two cookery books. During her training at Westminster Kingsway College she took part in national and international culinary competitions and is still a competitor. She left as both the highest achieving female chef and highest competition chef of the year. Wright has appeared on ''Great Food Live'', ITV ''Daily Cooks'' and ''Food Poker'' on BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an .... She runs Sophie Wright Catering. Her first book, ''Easy Peasy'', won the Gourmand easy cookbook of the year award in 2008. Her second, ''Home at 7, Dinner at 8'', was released in March 2011. Wright has also been voted one of Red Magazine's top 20 women under 30 “Culinary Queen" 2011. References External links Profile at ITV ChefsCh ...
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Jun Tanaka (chef)
Jun Tanaka (born 18 November 1971Cowen, Ruth"The Contender"''The Guardian''. Friday 23 November 2001.) is an American-born Japanese-British television chef, best known for presenting Channel 4's ''Cooking It'' as well as appearing in ''Saturday Kitchen'' on BBC One. He was the third Grand Champion of the American competitive cooking show, ''Chopped''. Early life and education On 18 November 1971, Jun Tanaka was born in New York City, US, to a chemical engineer and a housewife. When he was seven in 1978, his family moved from New York City to England. In 1989, his parents returned to Japan while Tanaka and his older brother, an orthopaedic surgeon,The Staff Canteen"Jun Tanaka Pearl Restaurant & Bar London"''The Staff Canteen''. continued living in England. Armed with a list of restaurants from his father, Tanaka approached each to gain a position as an apprentice. At the top of the list were Le Gavroche, Chez Nico and Marco Pierre White’s restaurant Harvey's. Career In 19 ...
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Merrilees Parker
Merrilees Claire Parker (born 11 August 1971 in Westminster, London) is a British celebrity chef and television presenter. She is mainly known for presenting television programmes combining food and travel (''Planet Food'' and ''Full on Food'') as well as various more traditional cookery programmes. Parker is also renowned for the menu she presented working for the pub ''The Lansdowne'' in Primrose Hill in London. Many of her recipes are freely available online. Early life Parker was already passionate about cooking as a young girl, at which time she helped her grandmother, who is half-Portuguese, in the kitchen. She lives in the United Kingdom and speaks French fluently. She is married with two children, a girl and a boy. Parker has developed several career paths in parallel, mainly involving cooking. Television presenter In 1996, she began her career in television as a researcher on the BBC cookery programme ''Ready Steady Cook''. She also researched for Channel 4. She be ...
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Frank Bordoni
Frank Bordoni is a British Michelin starred celebrity chef and member of the Guild of Food Writers. He has been members of thCraft Guild of Chefs, Vice President oWorld Masterchefsand an International Judge for numerous culinary competitions, awards and events. Frank Bordoni was born in Windsor, Berkshire and had a formal, classical French training. In 1989 he was awarded a Roux Brothers Scholarship, and went to work for Albert Roux at Gavroche. He was a finalist in the Restaurant Association's Young Chef of The Year Competition in both 1989 and 1990. In 1991 he was a finalist for the senior, Chef of The Year Competition where he was narrowly beaten to the title by Gordon Ramsay. At only 19 years of age, Bordoni was awarded his first AA Rosette. Now a prolific celebrity chef, Frank Bordoni has been a regular both as a Guest Chef and a Co Presenter on UKTV Food, as well as a guest Chef on the BBC Flagship cookery show Saturday Kitchen. He has also made appearances on GMTV and Taste ...
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Ed Baines
Edward "Ed" Baines is an English chef best known for being a judge on ''Britain's Best Dish'' and for being an alternate chef on '' Sunday Feast'' with Paul Merrett. He trained in The River Café (London), The River Café in London and his flagship restaurant is Randall & Aubin. Television Baines' previous shows have included his first TV series ''Lunch with Ed Baines'', which aired on Carlton Food Network and had him cooking for and then lunching with his famous friends at Randall & Aubin. In 1999, he presented a six-part television series on ITV called ''Ed Baines Entertains'', filmed at Randall & Aubin. He recorded two further series, which were broadcast during 2000 and 2001. He has also appeared as one of the chefs for the BBC daytime lifestyle show Housecall. Baines filmed Cupid's Dinners for broadcast on UKTV Food and was one of the resident chefs on ''Great Food Live''. He has regularly appeared on programmes for Granada Livetime, Central Television and Carlton Food ...
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