Emily Watkins is a British chef at The Kingham Plough

gastropub A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s. Etymology The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when David E ...

restaurant in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, having previously worked in Florence and at

The Fat Duck The Fat Duck is a fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England. It is run by celebrity chef proprietor Heston Blumenthal. Housed in a 16th-century building that had previously been the site of the Bell pub, the Fat Duck opened on 16 Aug ...

. She was one of the winners of 2014's season of the ''

Great British Menu ''Great British Menu'' is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four-course banquet. Format Series one and two were presented by Jennie Bond, the former BBC Royal correspondent, where ...

''.

Career

Emily Watkins was interested in cooking from an early age, because of a love of eating food. Her mother ran a country house hotel in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, where Watkins would help out on occasion along with her sisters. However, she was steered away from pursuing cooking professionally, instead going to University and afterwards working in an office for six months. She left, and travelled to Italy where she decided to follow up on her dreams of becoming a chef. She travelled, hoping to convince someone to take on a staff member with no experience, eventually landing a role in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

at Ristorante Beccofino. Initially as a front of house worker, who also spent two days per week in the kitchen, she was moved fully into a chef role after two months. Within two years, she had become a junior

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the head chef, usually the more hands on manager with regards to training staff and organising the kitchen. Duties and functions The sous-chef has many re ...

and had become fluent in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. In 2002, she moved back to England where she worked at

under

Heston Blumenthal Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with un ...

on the sauce section. It was at this point that the restaurant was awarded a third

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

and was named the Best Restaurant in the World. She left in 2005, having suffered a hip injury from standing all day, becoming a private chef in London. Two years later she moved to

, where her sister told her that a local

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, The Plough Inn, was for sale. It was there at the age of 28 that she opened her own restaurant along with business partner Adam Dorrien Smith, called The Kingham Plough. She uses local ingredients, and serves twists on well known

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

dishes. It has won several awards, including being awarded three rosettes by

The Automobile Association AA Limited, trading as The AA (formerly The Automobile Association), is a British motoring association. Founded in 1905, it provides vehicle insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans, motoring advice, road maps and other services. Th ...

and was named ninth in

Estrella Damm Estrella Damm is a lager beer brewed in Barcelona, Spain. It has existed since 1876, when August Küntzmann Damm founded his brewery in Barcelona, and is the flagship beer of S.A. Damm, a prominent brewery in the city. The brand is the oldest ...

's list of the top 50

gastropubs A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s. Etymology The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when David E ...

in the UK in 2016. In 2019, she sold the restaurant to new owners Matt and Katie Beamish. She competed in the 2014 season of

BBC Two 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 ...

's ''

'' competition, reaching the final where she was chosen to serve her fish course "Fight them on the beaches" at

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Gr ...

in honour of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

centenary. The dish had been inspired by both of her grandfathers, one of which had worked at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

, while the other was stationed on the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

HMS ''Valiant'' and was later a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

Personal life

Watkins has four children with her husband Miles Lampson. After fellow chef

Monica Galetti Monica Galetti (née Faafiti, born August 1975) is a Samoan-born New Zealand chef. She is a former judge on the BBC competitive cooking programme '' MasterChef: The Professionals'' and chef proprietor of Mere in London. She was senior sous-chef ...

questioned the ability for female chefs to both work and have children, Watkins said:

Although there are times when my husband would say that I've put my job before my family, I'm happy with my career. I don't think I could put any more into it or take any more out of it. I always wanted to be a chef and I always wanted to be a mum, but the business was my baby and I'd never missed a serving.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Emily Living people English chefs People from Dorset Women chefs English television chefs Year of birth missing (living people)