William Ronald Sacheverell Sitwell (born 2 October 1969) is a British editor, writer and broadcaster. He is also a restaurant critic for ''

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 ...

'' and the former editor of '' Waitrose Food''.

Life and work

Sitwell is the younger son of Francis Trajan Sacheverell Sitwell (1935-2004) and the grandson of writer and critic

Sir Sacheverell Sitwell, 6th Baronet Sir Sacheverell Reresby Sitwell, 6th Baronet, (; 15 November 1897 – 1 October 1988) was an English writer, best known as an art critic, music critic (his books on Mozart, Liszt, and Domenico Scarlatti are still consulted), and writer ...

. He is the great-nephew of writer

Sir Osbert Sitwell, 5th Baronet Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet CH CBE (6 December 1892 – 4 May 1969) was an English writer. His elder sister was Edith Sitwell and his younger brother was Sacheverell Sitwell. Like them, he devoted his life to art and li ...

and of poet and critic Dame Edith Sitwell. He is the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to the Sitwell Baronetcy currently held by his elder brother Sir George Sitwell, 8th Baronet. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

, where he 'wrote a stupid kind of gossip column in the student newspaper.' He is a regular on MasterChef UK as a quarter final judge. He sets the brief for one group of quarter finalists and acts as the third judge alongside

John Torode John Douglas Torode (born 23 July 1965) is an Australian-British celebrity chef and TV presenter. He moved to the UK in the 1990s and began working at Conran Group's restaurants. After first appearing on television on ITV's ''This Morning ...

and

Gregg Wallace Gregg Allan Wallace (born 17 October 1964) is an English broadcaster, entrepreneur, media personality, writer and former greengrocer. He is known for co-presenting ''MasterChef'', ''Celebrity MasterChef'' and '' MasterChef: The Professionals'', ...

. He has written several internationally successful books on food: ''Eggs or Anarchy: The Remarkable Story of the Man Tasked with the Impossible: to Feed a Nation at War'' (2016), ''A History of Food in 100 Recipes'' (2017), ''The Really Quite Good British Cookbook'' (2017)'','' and ''The Restaurant: A 2,000-Year History of Dining Out'' (2020).

Controversy

In 2018 freelance

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

Selene Nelson emailed Sitwell, suggesting features on

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

-friendly recipes. Sitwell replied "How about a series on killing vegans, one by one. Ways to trap them? How to interrogate them properly? Expose their hypocrisy? Force-feed them meat?". After Nelson made Sitwell's response public, Sitwell resigned. The row caused much controversy over free speech and whether making an offensive joke was a sackable offence. Sitwell later met Nelson in person to apologise. He has since joined ''

'' as a

restaurant critic The terms food critic, food writer, and restaurant critic can all be used to describe a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings. While these terms are not strictly synonymous they are often used int ...

, and hosts a dining programme with the paper called William Sitwell's Supper Club. In April 2020 he appeared as a guest in an episode of the

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with the UK version in July 1990. The format was revived and updated for the BBC in February 2005 by executive producers Roddam and John ...

TV programme, challenging contestants to produce "a plant-based dish". In 2019 Sitwell wrote in the ''Daily Telegraph'' that 104 Restaurant Notting Hill, a restaurant he reviewed, had made threatening calls to him. Richard Wilkins, the chef of 104 Restaurant Notting Hill, took umbrage with William’s views in the Telegraph & took Sitwell to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), which found that after an investigation, the newspaper accurately reported the situation and did not breach its policies. Ultimately, all charges were dismissed.

Personal life

Sitwell is godfather to Mary, daughter of Conservative MP

Jacob Rees-Mogg Jacob William Rees-Mogg (born 24 May 1969) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset since 2010. Now a backbencher, he served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council f ...

References

External links

William Sitwell
on ''

''
William Sitwell news and commentary
on the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sitwell, William Living people 1969 births People educated at Eton College Alumni of the University of Kent British food writers British magazine editors British restaurant critics British columnists The Daily Telegraph people English people of Canadian descent British television journalists

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Deputy Lieutenants of Northamptonshire