Celebrity chef

In its strictest sense, a celebrity chef is a someone who has become well-known for their cooking. In practical terms however the term grew in popularity during the 1990s, particularly in the United Kingdom. It accompanied an explosion in popularity of cookery programmes on television and cookery features in the printed press. The name celebrity chef is sometimes used in a slightly derogatory way - a celebrity chef who has "sold out" to the media being seen as somehow inferior to a traditional chef in a restaurant. Cantankerous multi-Michelin star winner Gordon Ramsay, for example, has made of point of saying that he is definitely not a celebrity chef, despite having appeared on documentaries and written several books. Others such as Gary Rhodes are perhaps more relaxed about the moniker, yet still have owned and operated several highly successful upmarket restaurants. Many consider Antoine Carême (died 1833) to have been the first celebrity chef.

Some celebrity chefs

United Kingdom

• Raymond Blanc
• Ross Burden
• Fanny Cradock*
• Elizabeth David*
• Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall*
• Keith Floyd
• Ainsley Harriott
• Ken Hom
• Madhur Jaffrey*
• Graham Kerr (The Galloping Gourmet)
• Nigella Lawson*
• Nick Nairn
• Jamie Oliver
• Gordon Ramsay
• Gary Rhodes
• Nigel Slater*
• Delia Smith*
• Rick Stein
• Marco Pierre White
• Anthony Worrall-Thompson
• Two Fat Ladies (Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson-Wright*)

* Television personality and/or food writer who did not spend significant time as a working chef.

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See also: Ready, Steady, Cook, Can't Cook, Won't Cook

Related Topics:
Ready, Steady, Cook - Can't Cook, Won't Cook

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United States

• Mario Batali
• James Beard
• Alton Brown*
• Anthony Bourdain
• Scott Bryan
• Michael Chiarello
• Julia Child*
• Giada De Laurentiis
• Rocco Dispirito
• Todd English
• Bobby Flay
• Thomas Keller
• Emeril Lagasse
• Jacques Pepin
• Udo Prambs
• Paul Prudhomme
• Wolfgang Puck
• Rachael Ray*
• Eric Ripert
• Jeff Smith (The Frugal Gourmet)
• Charlie Trotter
• Ming Tsai
• Alice Waters
• Martin Yan

* Television personality who did not spend significant time as a working chef.

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Japan

Note: Except for Chen Kenichi, which is a Chinese name, the names appear in Western order (given name first), not Asian order (family name first).

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• Chen Kenichi
• Yutake Ishinabe
• Masahiko Kobe
• Rokusaburo Michiba
• Masaharu Morimoto
• Koumei Nakamura
• Hiroyuki Sakai

Australia

• Curtis Stone

New Zealand

• Ross Burden
• Peter Gordon
• Alex Mackay
• John Torode

France

• Antoine Careme
• Auguste Escoffier

Italy

• Valentina Harris

Netherlands

• Jonnie Boer
• Raymond Jorna