Born on 27 May 1975, Jamie took an early interest in food. He grew up in Essex, where his parents Trevor and Sally still run their own highly respected pub/restaurant The Cricketers in Clavering and was frequently found helping out in the kitchens.
His fascination for food continued to grow and at 16 Jamie left school and completed his training at Westminster Catering College. After spending some time working in France, followed by working as the head pastry chef at Antonio Carluccio's Neal Street Restaurant, Jamie joined the acclaimed River Café where he worked for three and a half years alongside Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers.
In 1997, Jamie was featured in a television documentary about the River Café. Soon after the documentary was aired, Jamie was offered his own television show and The Naked Chef was born. The concept behind The Naked Chef was to strip food down to its bare essentials. He won a BAFTA Award for the best television series in the Features Category in 2000.
Jamie spent the autumn of 2001 taking his cookery show on the road – the Happy Days Tour was a huge success with over 17,000 people packing theaters in the UK. The tour then took in Australia and New Zealand, where Jamie played to sold out crowds in seven cities. He had become a global phenomenon. 2001 also saw Jamie cooking for the Italian Prime Minister at Tony Blair's invitation at Downing St.By the end of 2001 Jamie needed a new challenge; he wanted to 'give something back' to the catering industry, so he decided to open a training restaurant for young people who were not in full time education or employment. Followed by cameras that documented his every move he spent the year setting up a training scheme, the restaurant and the charity into which all the profits would be put into. The series, Jamie's Kitchen, broadcast by Channel 4 in the UK, became one of the biggest hit shows of the year. It has now been shown in over 40 countries.
In 2004, motivated by the poor state of school dinners in UK schools, Jamie embarked on one of his most ambitious ventures. He went back to school with the aim of educating and motivating the kids and dinner ladies to enjoy cooking and eating healthy, nutritious lunches rather than processed food. He launched an online petition for better school meals. As a result of the 271,677 signatures on the petition, which Jamie took to 10 Downing Street on 30th March 2005, the government pledged an extra £280 million to improve the standard of school meals.
In July 2000, Oliver married former model Juliette Norton. They have four children: Poppy Honey Rosie Oliver, Daisy Boo Pamela Oliver, Petal Blossom Rainbow Oliver and Buddy Bear Maurice Oliver.
Antonio Carluccio
Antonio Carluccio was born in Vietri sul Mare, Salerno,Italy. His father was a stationmaster, and he moved with his father's job when he was young and grew up in Piedmont .
Being born on the Amalfi Coast in the South and raised in the wooded North-West has given Antonio a rare breadth of culinary knowledge. It was here, in Piedmont, at the age of seven that Antonio started his life-long past-time of hunting and collecting mushrooms and fungi with his father.
After time spent living in Germany, in 1975 Antonio moved to London and while learning English, traded as a wine merchant of Italian wines. His hobby of studying and collecting wild mushrooms continued to grow as he found many varieties growing in the English countryside close to London, almost completely undiscovered.
Antonio took over the Neal Restaurant in Covent Garden in 1981. Jamie Oliver began his professional career at the Neal restaurant under Carluccio, which closed in 2006.
In 1983 Antonio made his first appearance on BBC 2 talking about Mediterranean food and at the same time was asked to write his first book, "An invitation to Italian cooking". Subsequently he has written thirteen books, published worldwide and made numerous television programmes including the hugely popular Antonio Carluccio's Northern Italian Feast and Southern Italian Feast.
Ina Garten
Ina Garten was born February 2, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York. She was encouraged by her mother not to help out in the kitchen but to concentrate on her school work when she was a child. As a child she showed an interest for science and she now says that she uses that scientific mindset while testing out recipes.
She saw an ad for a small food store for sale in a place she had never been - West Hampton. Two months later she found herself the owner of Barefoot Contessa, a specialty food store with employees.
Twenty years later, Barefoot Contessa grew , where 20 cooks and bakers prepared the food. In 2001, Ina sold the store to her employees. In 1999, Ina wrote her first book, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, which was one of the best selling cookbooks of the year. In 2001, Ina followed with best-selling Barefoot Contessa Parties! In 2004, Ina published her fourth book, Barefoot in Paris, in which she reinvents the classics of French cuisine.
Rachel Allen
Rachel Allen was born on the 21st of March 1972 in Dublin. She left her home at the age of eighteen and moved to Co. Cork, where she would study at the world famous Ballymaloe cookery school. After graduating from the school, she went to work at Ballymaloe house hotel. She then moved to Vancouver for a while before returning to the school to test recipes, and to teach at the cookery school.
In 2004 RTE broadcasted her first series in Ireland, Rachel's Favourite Food, which has also been broadcasted in Australia and Italy. A book Rachel's Favourite Food accompanied the series. Two further books and TV series followed, Rachel's Favourite Food For Friends, and Rachel's Favourite Food For Home.She is a frequent guest on the shoe Saturday Kitchen, and she co- host's the show Market Kitchen. In 2008 she was in a show Rachel Allen:Bake for RTE, a book also accompanied the series. She is a columnist and contributator to many Irish newspapers and magazines, such as The Sunday Tribune. The Good Food magazine believe that she had put Irish food on the map.
She now lives in her seaside home in Co. Cork, with her husband Issac, and three children, Joshua, Lucca and Scarlett Lilly.
Bobby Flay
Bobby Flay was born on the 10th December 1964 in New York City. He dropped out of school at the age of 17. His forst job was in a fast food restaurant. His dad then got him a job as a salad maker at Joe Allen's restaurant. Allen became aware of his natural ability, and agreed to pay for him to study at the French Culinary Institute. After culinary school he became a sous chef at the Brighton Grill restaurant. He was then offered a job as an executive chef for a restaurant called Messa Grill. Shortly after Flay became a partner, and opened another restaurant called Bolo Bar & restaurant.
He hosts nine shows on the Food Network channel, some of them are, Boy Meets Grill, BBQ with Bobby Flay, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Grill it with Bobby Flay, and Brunch at Bobby's. He also is an Iron Chef on the show Iron Chef America. He also hosted the show Americas Next Greatest Restaurant, in which he chooses one restaurant team, to open a restaurant with.He has written several cookbooks including:
Bobby Flay's bold American Food
Bobby Flay's from my kitchen to your table
Bobby Flay cooks American
Bobby Flay's grilling for life
He has also won many awards:
- New York Magazine Gael Greene's Restaurant of the Year – Mesa Grill
- James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef of the Year
- French Culinary Institute Outstanding Graduate Award
- International Association of Culinary Professionals Award for Design – Bobby Flay's Bold American Food
- Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Service Show – Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay
- Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Service Show Host – Boy Meets Grill
- Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Service Show Host – Boy Meets Grill
- Emmy award winner for Best Culinary Program – Grill It! With Bobby Flay
- James Beard Foundation's National Television Food Show Award – Bobby Flay Chef Mentor
- James Beard Foundation's Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America
He is the owner and executive chef of ten restaurants; Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, New York City, and in the Bahamas ; Bar American in New York City and Connecticut; Bobby Flay Steak in Atlantic City, New Jersey; and Bobby's Burger Palace in New York, Paramus, New Jersey, Eatontown, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Philadelphia.
