Florence Knight is a British chef and newspaper columnist, best known for her work at the restaurant Polpetto in London. She has also written for both ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' and the '' Sunday Times''.

Career

Florence Knight grew up near Godalming, Surrey. She was the second youngest of five siblings. Knight initially studied at the London College of Fashion, but she changed career paths following the death of her father and trained at Leith's School of Food and Wine. She began working in professional kitchens at the age of 19. She began working for

Raymond Blanc Raymond Blanc OBE (born 19 November 1949) is a French chef. Blanc is the chef patron at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, a hotel-restaurant in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, England. The restaurant has two Michelin stars and scored 9/10 in the '' Good ...

, first at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons and then as a

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...

at his Diamond Club within the Emirates Stadium. She was then hired as

head chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef ...

for Polpetto, located in The French House, Soho. The restaurant was intended to be the smaller, more casual version of the restaurant Polpo with the same menu. However, over time, Knight convinced owners Russell Norman and Richard Beatty to let her modify the menu, which was Venetian. The restaurant closed on 26 May 2012, aiming to reopen in newer, larger premises by the end of the year. During the hiatus, she worked on her first cookbook ''One: A Cook and Her Cupboard''. Knight returned to Polpo when it reopened in the new location, and continued to work there until 2015 late into her first pregnancy. During her maternity leave, she worked as a columnist for ''

''. Knight was later named as the official '' Sunday Times'' chef in May 2015, replacing the departing

Gizzi Erskine The Honourable Griselda "Gizzi" Maxwell Erskine (born 20 August 1979) is an English cook and TV personality. Early years Erskine was born in Wandsworth, to photographer Iain Maxwell Erskine, 2nd Baron Erskine of Rerrick (1926-1995), and his s ...

. After the birth of Knight's second child, she began to look for a location for her own restaurant.

Personal life

Knight owns two dogs, a

cockapoo A cockapoo, (portmanteaux of ''cocker spaniel'' and ''poodle''), is a dog crossbreed bred from a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle, most commonly the Miniature Poodle. The Cockapoo was first bred by designer dog breeders in the United States with the ...

and a dachshund/

poodle The Poodle, called the Pudel in German and the Caniche in French, is a breed of water dog. The breed is divided into four varieties based on size, the Standard Poodle, Medium Poodle, Miniature Poodle and Toy Poodle, although the Medium Poodle var ...

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

. She married Beatty, and together they have two children. Knight was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Florence Living people British women chefs British chefs British cookbook writers British columnists Writers with dyslexia British writers with disabilities British women columnists Year of birth missing (living people) Women food writers