Jesse Dunford Wood is an English chef and restaurateur. He is a frequent guest on the

BBC #REDIRECT 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 ex ...

program ''

Celebrity MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. In the UK, it is produced by the BBC. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 20 ...

'', and won

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

's 2007 Best British Restaurant Award.

Early life and education

After schooling at

Leighton Park Leighton Park School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having been founded as a Quaker School in 1890. The school's ...

in Berkshire, he began his cooking career by training in the kitchen of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

's The Witchery by the Castle. From there he moved to a more contemporary Scottish restaurant, the Atrium, run by Andrew and Lisa Radford, which over the years has won numerous awards for its food, modern design and wine list. Dunford Wood then relocated to the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

where he studied French cooking at Gidleigh Park Hotel in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

under Chef

Michael Caines Michael Andrew Caines (born 3 January 1969) is an English chef born in Exeter, Devon. He was head chef of Gidleigh Park in Devon until January 2016. He is currently the executive chef of the Lympstone Manor hotel between Exeter and Exmo ...

, holder of 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 ...

Career

Restaurants

Moving to Australia, Dunford Wood worked in Sydney's 'Best New Restaurant' VII under Japanese Chef Nori Sugie cooking French-Japanese fusion, and went on to work with Chef/owner Mark Best at Marque. Back in London in 2003, Dunford Wood spent some time at the

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 patron ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

with chef

Michel Roux Jr Michel Albert Roux (born 23 May 1960) previously known as Michel Roux Jr., is an English-French two Michelin starred chef. He owns the London restaurant ''Le Gavroche.'' Early life Roux was born at Pembury maternity hospital in Kent, whilst his ...

. Finding an opening at Kensington Place, Dunford Wood spent the first of two spells as sous chef at a restaurant run by

Rowley Leigh Rowley Leigh (born 23 April 1950) is a British chef, restaurateur and journalist who lives in Shepherd's Bush, London. Born in Manchester, Leigh attended Rushmoor school in Bedford before going to Clifton College and Christ's College, Cambridge ...

. He then moved to the United States with a position at Charlie Trotter's kitchens. In early 2006, Dunford Wood teamed up with

Oliver Peyton Oliver Peter Patrick Peyton, (born 26 September 1961), is an Irish restaurateur and television personality. Early life Peyton was born in Sligo and raised in Killasser near Swinford, County Mayo, his mother was the owner of a knitwear facto ...

to open his restaurants in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

as Executive Chef. The National Dining Rooms served seasonal modern British food, and it received rave reviews on opening, and went on to win the

Award for 'Best British Restaurant' in September 2007.

Proprietor

Striking out on his own, Jesse opene
Parlour
in

Kensal Green Kensal Green is an area in north-west London. It lies mainly in the London Borough of Brent, with a small part to the south within Kensington and Chelsea. Kensal Green is located on the Harrow Road, about miles from Charing Cross. To the w ...

during 2013 and has featured in the Top 50 Gastropubs every year since

Parlour has since become a real community hub featuring quizzes, film nights, and themed events throughout the year. During the pandemic the premises were pivoted to become an upmarket grocery store which also provided space to local independent businesses while the kitchen was used to provide hot food for distribution by charities serving the needy. In 2020 Six Portland Road in

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road ...

was added to the portfolio as a smaller and more mature relative. Harvest, in Kensal Rise, was opened in May 2023 as Dunford Wood's third restaurant. Harvest offers seasonal British dishes.

Television and events

Dunford Wood's TV appearances include the BBC's ''MasterChef'' and ''The Truth About Food''. He has been a participant at The

Taste of London Taste Festivals is a company which runs a series of food festivals around the world. As of 2012, these have taken place in fifteen cities. The events typically have the prefix "Taste of", although the company also runs The World Restaurant Awards. T ...

Food Festival in Regent's Park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Jesse Dunford English chefs Living people Year of birth missing (living people)