Gary Rhodes

Perhaps more than any other chef, Gary Rhodes has reinvigorated British cooking with his own modern twist on the traditional.

Fittingly, Gary's first culinary success was a traditional lemon sponge made for his family when he was 14. It was the pleasure of that occasion that encouraged him to go to catering college at Broadstairs in Kent.

Three years later, he was student of the year and soon found himself a job at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam as a junior chef. Not long after, however, he had a life-changing experience when he was hit by a tram and had to undergo brain surgery. Fortunately, he made a complete recovery, proposed to his college girlfriend and returned to England to work at the Capital Hotel.

Gary received his first Michelin star at the Castle Hotel in Somerset, and another at The Greenhouse in Mayfair. He owns Rhodes 24 in London's tallest building, the Rhodes Restaurant at Calabash, Grenada, and Arcadian Rhodes, located on the P&O superliner.

His first TV appearance was presenting a live ten-minute slot in 1987, an experience he recalls as "pretty nerve-racking". He became a huge success and has since presented several TV series including Gary Rhodes' Cookery Year, Rhodes around Britain, a cookery series for children based on Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes and Gary Rhodes At the Table. He has also hosted MasterChef. In between, he's even found the time to write several very successful cookery books, and is a contributor to the BBC Good Food magazine.

To fit in such a hectic schedule, his day usually begins at 4.30am when he drives to his restaurant in London and usually arrives at 7am; he's rarely home before 11pm. As well as being a lover of food, Gary is a keen supporter of Manchester United and has a passion for cars, with his greatest ambition being to drive a Formula One car.

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