Michael Caines

Michael Caines was born in Exeter in 1969 and adopted into a large and loving family. He gained his passion for food from his mother who he used to enjoy helping in the kitchen. Michael attended Exeter Catering College where his precocious talent was already evident, earning him the accolade ‘Student of the Year' in 1987.
Michael Caines is one of Britain's most acclaimed chefs. AA Chef's Chef of the Year in 2007, and awarded an MBE in 2006 for services to the hospitality industry, Michael is an Operational Partner and Director of ABode Hotels and Michael Caines Restaurants, in overall charge of all food and beverage operations throughout the fast-growing group.Since February 2009, he is also Executive Chef at The Bath Priory, Bath, Gidleigh Park's sister establishment.

Merrilees Parker

Merrilees Parker (born 11 August 1971) is a British celebrity chef and TV presenter. She is mainly known for presenting television programmes combining food and travel (Planet Food and Full on Food) as well as various more traditional cookery programmes. Parker is also renowned for the menu she presented working for the pub The Lansdowne in Primrose Hill in London.
Parker's distinguishing characteristics are her no-nonsense cooking style and her passionate method of presenting. Many of her recipes are freely available online.
Parker's presenting style is passionate, open and positive. In her travel documentaries she tastes local foods even if they may sometimes look unappealing to western eyes. She does not believe eating from street restaurants is risky: if something is cooked in front of you in a hot wok it's less likely to give you food poisoning than something that has been sitting on a lukewarm buffet.

Martin Blunos

Martin Lauris Blunos (born 1960-04-11) is a British TV chef. Blunos earned two Michelin Guide stars for each of his two restaurants.His cooking style is influenced by his half Russian half Latvian mother. He did a spell at the Strand Palace Hotel in London, a season in Switzerland and went on many a cruise on a Greek tycoon's yacht before settling down in a job at Lampwick's in Battersea, London.
His first restaurant as chef and owner was Lettonie (French for Latvia) in Bristol, which opened 1988 with a Franco-British style of cooking with some Eastern European elements. He earned his first Michelin star there in 1992, and a second in 1994.[1] In 1997 he moved Lettonie to larger premises in Bath where he was assisted by James Tanner. He is Executive Chef at Hurst House on the Marsh, Laugharne, West Wales.

Mary Berry

Mary Berry is one of the best-known and respected cookery writers and broadcasters in the UK. She started her career as cookery editor of Housewife magazine and later moved to Ideal Home magazine. Since then she has presented and appeared as a guest in countless television series and has written more than 40 cookery books, many of which have sold in their hundreds of thousands.
Mary describes her cooking style as 'family' - practical, healthy recipes that use a little less animal fat and incorporate lots of fresh ingredients. In June 2009, Mary was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Guild of Food Writers.When Mary is not busy working as a broadcaster, she works with her daughter Annabel on the Mary Berry & Daughter Salad Dressings and Sauces, which they launched in 1994.

Mark Hix

Mark Hix moved to London aged 18 to work in the Hilton’s staff canteen: four years later he became head chef at the Candlewick Room Restaurant. His next break was becoming head chef at celebrity haunt Le Caprice; he was eventually named chef-director of Caprice Holdings, the restaurant’s parent company. Mark opened his first restaurant, Hix Oyster and Chop House, near London's Smithfield Market, in 2008. Other eponymous restaurants have followed, mostly located in London.
Mark has written several acclaimed books on British food. He won the Glenfiddich Newspaper Cookery Writer of the Year award in 2003 and was voted Best Cookery Writer by the Guild of Food Writers in 2005. His book, British Seasonal Food, won the Guild of Food Writers' Cookery Book of the Year award in 2009.

Maria Elia

Inspired by her experience cooking in her Greek Cypriot father's restaurant, Maria  Elia always had her heart set on becoming a chef. After a rigorous apprenticeship in some of London's leading kitchens, Maria took positions in a wide range of restaurants and cookery schools in the UK and abroad, including Bangkok’s Oriental Cooking School, El Bulli in Spain, and a job as chef on a private yacht. Maria’s travels informed her classes at London’s Authentic Ethnic Cooking School and provided inspiration during her ten-year tenure as head chef at London's Delfina restaurant.
Maria makes regular appearances on Ready Steady Cook, where she showcases her no-fuss cooking style and eclectic take on seasonal ingredients.

Marcus Wareing

Born in Lancashire, Marcus Wareing’s restaurant career started at The Savoy in London when he was 18. From there he moved to Le Gavroche to work alongside Albert Roux, then fine-tuned his expertise in classic French cooking in international hotels and resorts. In 1993 Marcus began working alongside Gordon Ramsay at London’s Aubergine – it was the start of a long-running professional relationship between the two chefs.
In 1999 he opened Pétrus in London's Knightsbridge, which won a Michelin star within seven months. In 2008 Marcus re-opened the restaurant as chef patron and owner. ‘Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley’ has retained two Michelin stars and five AA rosettes. Marcus has won a string of awards, including GQ chef of the year 2009, AA chef of the year 2009 and in 2010 Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley was named London’s Best Restaurant by Harden’s.