Chris Horridge started his cooking career with the Royal Air Force. After nine years service, he left to join Raymond Blanc’s team at the legendary multi-Michelin starred Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons where he finished five years later as Senior Sous Chef.
After becoming head chef of The Priory Restaurant at the Bath Priory in 2005, Horridge gained a Michelin star of his own in 2006, along with three AA rosettes and numerous critical plaudits – including a place in The Good Food Guide’s top 40 UK restaurants.
After the death of a close family member, Horridge began to reflect on how haute cuisine worked as nutrition. Since then, his rigorous take on the highest quality gastronomy has focused on his customers’ health as much as their palates. While many top-quality restaurants cook their way through tub after tub of butter, under Horridge’s leadership, the Bath Priory experimented with new ways to ensure his familiar restaurant indulgences have flavour, while leaving out unhealthy ingredients.
As he explained to Rebecca Hardy in The Independent, ‘…You can indulge without it being bad for you. If we can do an éclair and crème brûlée with no cream and 75 per cent less sugar, and it tastes exactly the same, why not have that instead?’
In 2008, Horridge founded the Nutrition Research Group - a collaboration of nutritionists, university faculties and interested parties. Horridge left Bath in 2009 to become Executive Head Chef at Waldo’s Restaurant, which was rated by American Food & Wine Magazine as ‘one of the world’s most exciting places to eat’.
In 2010, he joined Alan Murchison’s 10 in 8 Fine Dining Group as Chef Director of the Fine Dining Academy. 10 in 8’s goal is to open ten financially sustainable Michelin-standard restaurants in eight years.
2012 will see Horridge moving to a more hands-on role within the 10 in 8 group, helping the opening of a new group restaurant.
Restaurants