William Granger is a self-taught cook, restaurateur and
food writer
Food writing is a genre of writing that focuses on food and includes works by food critics, food journalists, chefs and food historians.
Definition
Food writers regard food as a substance and a cultural phenomenon. John T. Edge, an American food ...
, based in his native Australia and in London but also working internationally.
Career
In the late 1980s, Granger relocated from
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
to Sydney to study art. He worked as a waiter while he studied art. His interest moved from art to food. In 1993, he opened a restaurant called Bills in the Sydney suburb of
Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. ...
. Breakfast, and, more specifically, creamy
scrambled eggs
Scrambled eggs is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs) stirred, whipped or beaten together while being gently heated, typically with salt, butter, oil and sometimes other ingredients.
Preparation
Only eggs are necessary to make scramble ...
, brought Granger to the public's attention. A second restaurant, Bills Surry Hills, opened in 1996. Bills Woollahra was his third restaurant.
In 2008, he opened the first Bills restaurant outside Australia in Japan, where he had lived for half a year. Since then, he has opened eight restaurants in Japan, in regions such as Tokyo,
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...
,
Kamakura,
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...
and
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
.
In 2011, Granger opened his first UK restaurant, Granger & Co, in London's Westbourne Grove. In the spring of 2014, Granger opened a second London-based Granger & Co in Clerkenwell and a new Bills restaurant in Hawaii. In that same year, he also opened his first restaurant in Seoul, and now currently has two restaurants in the country.
Books
Granger wrote ''Bill's Sydney Food'' (
Murdoch Books
Murdoch Books is an Australian publisher, mainly of gardening and cook books.
The company had its beginnings when '' The Advertiser'' of Adelaide started printing magazines. Advertiser Magazines was renamed Murdoch Magazines in 1988. It publi ...
, 2000) which included information about the food in his restaurants. That book was followed by ''Bill's Food'' (2002), ''Bill's Open Kitchen'' (2003), ''Simply Bill'' (2005), ''Bill Granger Every Day'' (2006), ''Holiday'' (2009), ''Bill's Basic's'' (2010), ''Bill's Everyday Asian'' (2011), ''Bill Granger Easy'' (2012), ''Bill's Italian Food'' (2014) and ''Australian Food'' (2020).
Media work
In 2004, the six part series, ''Bill's Food'', followed Granger for a week. It was well received in Australia and subsequently screened on
BBC2 in the United Kingdom in 2005, drawing an audience of 2 million. The series was repeated on
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
and was shown in 22 other countries. In June 2006, Granger appeared on
GMTV to present a week-long barbecue special filmed in the South of France. A second series of ''Bill's Food'' was aired on various networks. In 2009 a seven part television series, ''Bill’s Holiday'', was released featuring Granger’s travels exploring the varying regions and produce of Australia.
Granger is featured on a fortnightly segment on
ABC Radio 702 with
Richard Glover. Each week he discussed a recipe. He appeared cooking tasty 'Roast Dinner with Pancetta' on Wednesday, 16 February 2011.
In 2011, Bill Granger became ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' on Sunday's weekly food columnist.
A ten-part television series bringing Granger's food to West London, ''Bill's Kitchen: Notting Hill'', aired from June 2013 on
BBC Lifestyle
BBC Lifestyle is an international television channel wholly owned by BBC Studios. The channel provides six programming strands: Food, Home & Design, Fashion & Style, Health, Parenting, and Personal Development.
On 1 August 2019, BBC Lifestyle a ...
in Poland, South Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Nordic Region; on
BBC HD
BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...
in EMEA and LatAm; and on
BBC Entertainment
BBC Entertainment is an international television channel broadcasting comedy, drama, light entertainment, reality and children's programming (some regions only) from the BBC, Channel 4 and other UK production houses. The channel broadcasts regi ...
in Latin America.
Personal life
Granger was born to a vegetarian mother and a father who worked as a butcher. He and his wife Natalie Elliott have three daughters.
Bill's beach wedding
– The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
, ''14 Oct 2006''
Bibliography
*''Sydney Food'' (Murdoch Books
Murdoch Books is an Australian publisher, mainly of gardening and cook books.
The company had its beginnings when '' The Advertiser'' of Adelaide started printing magazines. Advertiser Magazines was renamed Murdoch Magazines in 1988. It publi ...
, 2000)
*''Bills Food'' (Murdoch Books, 2002)
*''Open Kitchen'' (Murdoch Books, 2003)
*''Simply Bill'' (Murdoch Books, 2005)
*''Everyday'' (Murdoch Books, 2006)
*''Holiday'' (Murdoch Books, 2009)
*''Feed Me Now'' (Quadrille, 2009)
*''Bill's Basics'' (Quadrille, 2010)
*''Bill's Everyday Asian'' (Quadrille, 2011)
*''Bill Granger Easy'' (Collins
Collins may refer to:
People Surname
Given name
* Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat
* Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration
* Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...
, 2012)
*''Australian Food'' (Murdoch Books, 2020)
References
External links
*
Bill's Food
on LifeStyle Food
{{DEFAULTSORT:Granger, Bill
Living people
1969 births
Australian television chefs
Cookbook writers
People educated at Mentone Grammar School
People from Melbourne