Simon Charles Hopkinson (born 5 June 1954) is an English food writer, critic and former

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

. He published his first cookbook, ''Roast Chicken and Other Stories'', in 1994.

Early life

Hopkinson was born in Greenmount, Bury, in 1954, the son of a dentist father and a mother who taught art at Bury Grammar School. At the age of eight he was awarded a chorister's scholarship to St John's College School in Cambridge. At 13 he moved to Trent College, near

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

Early career

Hopkinson started his career at the age of 17 in the kitchens of Le Normandie in Birtle, near Bury, Lancashire, under the supervision of Yves Champeau. Following on from this, in 1978 he became the youngest chef to acquire an Egon Ronay Guide star with his restaurant the Shed in Dinas in

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

West Wales West Wales () is a region of Wales. It has various definitions, either covering Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheubarth'', and an alternative definition is to include Swa ...

. He spent the next two and a half years as an Egon Ronay inspector. He returned to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and, after a three-year stint as a private chef, he was installed at Hilaire, which opened in

Old Brompton Road Old Brompton Road is a major street in the South Kensington district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. It starts from South Kensington tube station, South Kensington Underground station and runs south-west, through a ma ...

in 1983. A friendship with the Conrans led to the establishment of Bibendum in 1987, where he worked as the chef and joint proprietor with Sir

Terence Conran Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was a British designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989. The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that Conran "m ...

and the late Lord Paul Hamlyn.

Bibendum

Bibendum was created out of the abandoned Michelin House on

Fulham Road Fulham Road is a street in London, England, which comprises the A304 and part of the A308. Overview Fulham Road ( the A219) runs from Putney Bridge as "Fulham High Street" and then eastward to Fulham Broadway, in the London Borough of Hamm ...

, which served as

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

's UK headquarters from 1911 to 1985. Inside the restaurant, Hopkinson continued his philosophy of well-judged simple cooking which he garnered from his influences Richard Olney,

Jane Grigson Jane Grigson (born Heather Mabel Jane McIntire; 13 March 1928 – 12 March 1990) was an English cookery writer. In the latter part of the 20th century she was the author of the food column for ''The Observer'' and wrote numerous books about Eu ...

and

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David ( Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about Europea ...

. He also began a cookery column in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' and in 1994 his first book, ''Roast Chicken and Other Stories'' (co-authored with Lindsey Bareham), was published. It later won a Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award. In 2005, it was voted "Most Useful Cookbook of All Time" by

Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...

''Food Illustrated'' magazine. Also in 1994, Hopkinson suffered what he termed a "mini-breakdown" during restaurant service one evening. He left Bibendum early in 1995 to devote his time to cookery writing. He was replaced as the head chef by Matthew Harris.

Television

In June 2011, Hopkinson presented his cooking show ''The Good Cook'', every Friday after ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating ...

'' on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. The series consisted of 6 episodes, being frequently repeated on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

and some excerpts used on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

's '' Saturday Kitchen''. From June 2013, Hopkinson has presented a new show called ''Simon Hopkinson Cooks'' on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's digital channel

More4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content The i ...

Personal life

In 2001, it was mistakenly reported by ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' newspaper that Hopkinson was dating British actress Helen Worth.

Bibliography

Books

*''Roast Chicken and Other Stories'', 1994 * ''Sweetbreads, Liver and Kidneys,'' 1997 *''Gammon and Spinach,'' Macmillan, 1998 * ''The Prawn Cocktail Years'' (with Lindsey Bareham), 1997 *''Second Helpings of Roast Chicken,'' Random House, 2006 *''Week In Week Out,'' Quadrille, 2007 *''The Bibendum Cookbook'' (with

and Matthew Harris), Octopus Books, 2008 *''The Vegetarian, Option,'' Abrams, 2009 *''The Good Cook,'' Ebury Publishing, 2012 *''Simon Hopkinson Cooks,'' Random House, 2013

Articles

*Published online under title "Simon Hopkinson’s raspberry recipes".

References

Jan Moir Jan Moir (; born August 1958) is a British newspaper columnist. She works for the '' Daily Mail''. Career Moir currently works for the '' Daily Mail'', having previously worked for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and ''The Observer'' newspapers. While ...

2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkinson, Simon 1954 births Living people Writers from Bury, Greater Manchester Writers from Lancashire English food writers British restaurant critics English cookbook writers 20th-century English writers 21st-century English writers Television personalities from Lancashire English television personalities English restaurateurs English television chefs People educated at Bury Grammar School Country Life (magazine) people English male chefs