Marcus Wareing (born 29 June 1970) is an English
celebrity chef
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 ...
who is currently Chef-Owner of the one-
Michelin-starred
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 ...
restaurant Marcus (formerly Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley) in
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End.
...
. Since 2014, Wareing has been a judge on ''
MasterChef: The Professionals''.
Early life
Wareing was born in
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish ...
, Merseyside, in 1970.
His father was a fruit and potato merchant who had contracts with schools to provide their produce for
school dinners.
At the age of 11 his first food-industry related job was with his father,
packing potatoes and riding alongside deliveries.
He was paid 10
p per bag of potatoes packed, all of which went straight into his
Post Office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
saving account.
At a young age, Wareing was informed by his father that the business was no longer viable as schools moved on to using pre-prepared frozen food instead of fresh produce. He would later credit his father's long hours with inspiring his own work ethic.
At
Stanley High School,
he found he had a natural talent for cooking. He went on to attend
Southport College
Southport College (previously known as Southport Technical College) is a further education college located in Southport, Merseyside, England. Southport College merged with King George V College in January 2018. The combined colleges maintain th ...
, where he took a three-year
City & Guilds
The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...
course in catering.
Career
Wareing first worked at the
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 188 ...
under chef
Anton Edelmann in 1988 at the age of 18 where he was employed as a commis chef,
before leaving in 1993 to join
Albert Roux
Albert Henri Roux (8 October 1935 – 4 January 2021) was a French-British restaurateur and chef. He and his brother Michel operated Le Gavroche in London's Mayfair, the first restaurant in the UK to gain three Michelin stars. He helped trai ...
at
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 ...
red
Le Gavroche
Le Gavroche (''The Urchin'') is a restaurant at 43 Upper Brook Street in Mayfair, London. It was opened in 1967 by Michel and Albert Roux at 61 Lower Sloane Street, its premises until 1981. Albert's son Michel Roux Jr is the current chef pat ...
where he first met
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a tot ...
.
Stints at other restaurants in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
and at
Gravetye Manor
Gravetye Manor is a manor house located near East Grinstead, West Sussex, England. The former home of landscape gardener William Robinson, it is now a hotel and restaurant holding, in 2020, one star in the Michelin Guide, and is a Grade I list ...
in
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
followed.
Wareing joined
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a tot ...
's
Aubergine
Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit.
Mos ...
when it opened in 1993, where he became
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 ...
behind Head Chef Ramsay and would go on to work with him over the course of the following 15 years, which led to Wareing being called Ramsay's protégé.
While he was at Aubergine in 1995, Wareing was awarded the title of Young Chef of the Year by the
Restaurant Association.
He would later credit Ramsay with teaching him to cook, describing it as "the most important time in my life".
He left Aubergine for a year in 1995 to work with
Daniel Boulud
Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955 in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, Singapore, the Bahamas, the Berkshires and Dubai. He is best known for h ...
in America, and
Guy Savoy
Guy Savoy (; born 24 July 1953) is a French chef who is the head chef and owner of the eponymous ''Guy Savoy'' restaurant in Paris and its sister restaurant in Las Vegas, both of which have gained multiple Michelin stars.
He owns three other res ...
in France. His return to the UK was also to be his first head chef role, of new restaurant
L’Oranger, which was owned by A-Z Restaurants, which had also owned Aubergine, with stakes held by both Wareing and Ramsay.
At the age of 25 he earned his first Michelin star as head chef whilst at L’Oranger.
He gave
Angela Hartnett
Angela Maria Hartnett (born September 1968) is an English Michelin-starred chef. A protégée of Gordon Ramsay who became well known by her appearances on British television, she was Chef-Patron at Angela Hartnett at The Connaught in London. Cu ...
her first job in a restaurant.
Following a fall-out between Ramsay and A-Z Restaurants over Wareing's contract at L'Oranger, which saw Ramsay quit Aubergine to open
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Wareing followed suit by leaving L'Oranger, forcing the restaurant into temporary closure.
A-Z Restaurants commenced legal proceedings against the pair, and reopened L’Oranger with Wareing's former sous chef, Kamel Benamar, as the new head chef.
[ ] The legal case ended in Ramsay and Wareing paying an out-of-court settlement to A-Z. Ramsay and Wareing worked together to open
Pétrus in 1999, with Wareing becoming head chef and operating the restaurant on behalf of Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH), at 33
St James's Street
St James's Street is the principal street in the district of St James's, central London. It runs from Piccadilly downhill to St James's Palace and Pall Mall. The main gatehouse of the Palace is at the southern end of the road; in the 17th centur ...
, London.
The name came from the French wine
Pétrus, which was Ramsay's and Wareing's favourite.
[ ] Wareing promptly regained the Michelin star he had previously held, with Pétrus being named as a one star restaurant seven months after opening.
The restaurant was moved into the
Berkeley Hotel in 2003 where it replaced
Pierre Koffmann
Pierre Koffmann (born 21 August 1948) is a French professional chef. He was one of a handful of chefs in the United Kingdom to have been awarded the coveted three Michelin stars at his restaurant La Tante Claire in London. Until December 2016 he ...
's
La Tante Claire
La Tante Claire (''The Aunt Claire'') was a restaurant in Chelsea, London, which opened in 1977 and 1998. Owned and operated by Pierre Koffmann, it gained three Michelin stars in 1983, and held all three until the restaurant moved premises in 199 ...
,
in the same year that Wareing became Chef Patron of the Grill Room at the Savoy Hotel,
and he was named Chef of the Year by ''
Caterer and Hotelkeeper
''The Caterer'' is a weekly UK business magazine for hospitality professionals. It covers all areas of the hospitality industry (including restaurants, hotels, foodservice, pubs and bars) providing news, analysis and features about senior industry ...
s
Catey Awards.
The return to the Savoy meant that he was competing against Anton Edelmann, his former boss from the River Room at the hotel. Rather than serve a menu similar to the
French cuisine
French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...
of Pétrus, Wareing chose to continue to serve the
British cuisine
British cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom. Historically, British cuisine meant "unfussy dishes made with quality local ingredients, matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavou ...
that the Grill Room was known for, including his version of previous menu items such as
steak and kidney pudding
Steak and kidney pudding is a traditional British main course in which beef steak and beef, veal, pork or lamb kidney are enclosed in suet pastry and slow-steamed on a stovetop.
History and ingredients
Steak puddings (without kidney) were part o ...
and
potted shrimps
Potted shrimps are a traditional British dish made with brown shrimp flavored with nutmeg. The dish consists of brown shrimp in nutmeg-flavoured butter, which has set in a small pot, the butter acting as a preservative. Cayenne pepper may also be ...
.
Pétrus went on to be awarded two
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 ...
s and five
AA Rosettes, while the Savoy Grill achieved its first Michelin star in the hotel's history in 2004.
Wareing also opened an
American-style diner at The Savoy called Banquette, and converted the previous Pétrus location into
La Fleur.
He was voted Restaurateur of the Year at the ''
Tatler
''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...
'' Restaurant Awards in 2004, and ''
Harden's
''Harden's'' is a UK restaurant guide, publishing print, online and mobile reviews and ratings for both London and UK restaurants. Like New York's Zagat Survey (which no longer has a London edition), the ratings and reviews are based on the result ...
''
restaurant guide
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
selected him as the fourth-best chef in London,
although La Fleur closed due to problems with the lease for the site.
In 2007 Pétrus was awarded its second
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 ...
.
Following several months of rumours regarding the restaurant, the Berkeley Hotel confirmed in May 2008 that it was going to work with Wareing to launch his only solo restaurant, and he would take on Pétrus' lease from 19 September 2008 onwards.
Wareing had previously complained of interference in the kitchen by GRH, and wanted to come out from under Ramsay's shadow,
but later admitted that he had engineered the situation so that he could go out on his own.
The split with Ramsay and GRH resulted in a public legal battle and feud between the three parties,
which when resolved resulted in Wareing stating in an interview for
Waitrose
Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...
Food Illustrated magazine that Ramsay left him bitter and conflicted; "half of me thinks he’s a sad bastard and the other half still adores him."
He went on to describe Ramsay as a
celebrity chef
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 ...
who wasn't involved in the industry anymore.
The legal dispute was resolved with Ramsay gaining the rights to the Pétrus name, and Wareing signing a
gag order
A gag order (also known as a gagging order or suppression order) is an order, typically a legal order by a court or government, restricting information or comment from being made public or passed onto any unauthorized third party. The phrase may ...
regarding the situation but continuing to open his restaurant
Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley.
Wareing remarked of the situation, "If I never speak to that guy again for the rest of my life, it wouldn't bother me one bit."
Ramsay later responded regarding the feud that he wishes Wareing "all the best".
Wareing's self-named restaurant won the Best Restaurant in London Award by Harden's guide in 2008 and 2009,
was awarded a Michelin star in 2009,
and was named
''Time Out'''s restaurant of the year in 2010.
The new Pétrus was opened around the corner from the Berkeley Hotel at 1
Kinnerton Street
Kinnerton Street is in the district of Belgravia in the City of Westminster, London, England. It had modest origins as a service street for wealthy areas of the Grosvenor Estate and was originally occupied by the animals, servants, shopkeepers and ...
, Knightsbridge. Ramsay later joked, that with
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 ...
also opening his new restaurant,
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is a restaurant in London, England, created by Heston Blumenthal. Opened in January 2011, it received a Michelin star within a year and earned its second in 2014. In April 2014, it was listed fifth on The World's 5 ...
, nearby, the three of them could "all have a fight in the street at four in the morning".
Once Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley opened in 2008, Marcus Wareing Restaurants was founded. The group has since expanded and now comprises three restaurants. In 2009 Wareing was named by ''
GQ'' magazine as their chef of the year.
In 2011, Wareing opened his second restaurant,
The Gilbert Scott, in the
St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel. GRH had also made a bid to open a restaurant in the space, but was rejected in favour of Wareing's proposal.
The restaurant was named after the architect of the hotel,
Sir George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...
.
Wareing believes in promoting good quality, seasonal British food in his menus, and using small suppliers.
After an extensive refurbishment in 2014, Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley reopened as Marcus. In September 2014, Wareing opened Tredwells in Upper St Martin's Lane,
Seven Dials, London
Seven Dials is a road junction and neighbourhood in the St Giles district of the London Borough of Camden, within the greater Covent Garden area in the West End of London. Seven streets of Seven Dials area converge at the roughly circular central ...
, with Group Operations Director, Chantelle Nicholson, who also acquired the role of Chef Patron of Tredwells in June 2016. In August 2020, Chantelle and Wareing announced that Tredwells is now solely owned by Chantelle, and that he would have no further involvement. In 2021, Wareing announced the natural closure of The Gilbert Scott, after a successful 10-year lease.
Television and other media
Wareing was first featured on television in the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
1999 documentary series ''
Boiling Point
The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor.
The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding envir ...
'', during his time as Gordon Ramsay's sous chef. The 2000 follow-up documentary
Beyond Boiling Point documents his move to Pétrus and the award of his first Michelin star.
He was also selected as one of 13 chefs chosen to recreate
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
's ''
The Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
'' in 2003. The work was photographed by
John Reardon
John Henry Reardon (born July 30, 1975) is a Canadian actor and former university football player. Prior to 2015, Reardon starred as Blake Laviolette on the CBC Television series ''Arctic Air'' and had a recurring role as Greg Cameron on the S ...
, and features Wareing throwing a
brie
Brie (; ) is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern ''département'' of Seine-et-Marne). It is pale in color with a slight grayish tinge under a rind of white m ...
across into the air whilst standing in the place of
Simon the Zealot
Simon the Zealot (, ) or Simon the Canaanite or Simon the Canaanean (, ; grc-gre, Σίμων ὁ Κανανίτης; cop, ⲥⲓⲙⲱⲛ ⲡⲓ-ⲕⲁⲛⲁⲛⲉⲟⲥ; syc, ܫܡܥܘܢ ܩܢܢܝܐ) was one of the most obscure among the apostl ...
from Leonardo's work. In 2006, Marcus Wareing and
Simon Rimmer
Simon Peter Rimmer (born 5 May 1963) is an English celebrity chef, best known for his on-screen partnership with Tim Lovejoy.
Early life
Simon Peter Rimmer was born on 5 May 1963 in Wallasey.
Career
Rimmer originally studied fashion and texti ...
represented the
North of England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. Wareing beat the Manchester-based chef to go on to the final round. In the final the public chose for him to cook his dessert of
's 80th birthday banquet which was on 17 June 2006.
He has continued to be a judge for later seasons for the ''Great British Menu'', something which has occasionally brought him into conflict with one of the chefs
. He has criticized some shows in the past such as ''
'', saying that it has inspired young chefs to chase fame on television and be lazy in the kitchen, although he has appeared on ''MasterChef'', ''
after Roux, Jr.'s contract with the BBC was terminated for advertising potatoes.
Wareing has released nine
to date. Under his new publisher,
top 10 bestseller list (cookery books), and New Classics, which was published 2 November 2017
hit shelves in October 2021.
In August 2021, Wareing announced a partnership with food services and support company, Compass Group UK & Ireland. 'Forward with Marcus Wareing' is an enhanced culinary programme that runs alongside a Level 4 Senior Culinary Chef or Level 5 Operations Departmental Manager apprenticeship, delivered in partnership with HIT Training. Focus areas include sustainability, diversity, mental health, mentoring and analysis of different leadership styles and outcomes.
In February 2022, the 10-part television series ''Marcus Wareing's Tales from a Kitchen Garden'' aired on
and out in the countryside, visiting the very best of British producers, gardeners and farmers. A second series will air in 2023.
He has a brother named Brian, who is a catering teacher. Marcus is married to Jane, with whom he has three children, Jake, Archie, and Jessie.
He met Jane while he worked at Gravetye Manor, where he was second chef and she worked on reception. After moving to London to work with Ramsay at Aubergine, Wareing kept the relationship going by commuting out to Sussex every Sunday.
charity event with other chefs and catering staff for the Hilton in the Community Foundation, having been an amateur boxer in his youth.
campaign to promote sustainable fishing.
.