The Great British Chefs Cookbook: Britain’s culinary masters

Born and raised in Lancashire, Paul Heathcote’s passion for British ingredients has had a huge influence on the landscape of British food today. After stints at Sharrow Bay in the Lake District and Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, Paul opened his eponymous restaurant back home in Lancashire, and became famous for championing undervalued British classics. He took ingredients like black pudding and dishes like shepherd’s pie, rice pudding, treacle tart and more, and dragged them into modernity using the very best local ingredients. Before long, he had two Michelin stars and a burgeoning reputation as one of the best chefs in the UK. Although he has since sold most of his restaurants, Paul’s influence continues to be felt, particularly in the North West.

Certainly one of the most recognisable food personalities in the UK, Marcus Wareing is a household name thanks to his TV career, but to call him a TV chef would be woefully inaccurate. Marcus famously burst onto the scene as Gordon Ramsay’s sous chef at Aubergine during Gordon’s ‘Boiling Point’ docu-series, but Marcus has gone on to forge his own stellar reputation, earning two Michelin stars for his superb Anglo-French cookery at Marcus – his eponymous restaurant in the Berkeley Hotel. Whether it’s teaching Sienna Miller and Bradley Cooper how to cook on the set of Burnt, serving custard tart to The Queen or running the pass at Marcus, Marcus Wareing is a true ambassador for British cuisine in every sense of the word.

For a chef born and raised in landlocked Maidstone in Kent, Nathan Outlaw sure has a remarkable touch when it comes to fish cookery. That all comes, he says, from two formative years with Rick Stein at the Seafood Restaurant in Padstow – where Nathan learned fish and seafood inside out, and fell in love with the north coast of Cornwall. His two-Michelin-starred eponymous restaurant, up the coast in Port Isaac, has an incredible reputation for fish and seafood cooking, but Nathan is far from just a fish cook – he’s a chef of the highest quality, and thanks to multiple restaurants in the UK and one in Dubai, he’s a true ambassador for British cooking.

As the owner of the two-starred L’Enclume in Cartmel, Cumbria, Simon Rogan is one of the most talented chefs the UK has ever seen. Add to that a few other restaurants and a proper working farm, and you’ve got a master restaurateur and businessman to boot. Simon’s food is modern British at its very best, with his own produce accented by Cumbrian ingredients and unusual native herbs – nothing else is needed to make his beautiful dishes taste and look world-class.

Growing up, Michael Wignall dreamt of becoming a professional BMX rider – and it very nearly happened, had his parents not convinced him to go to catering college. His career since then has been one of the most lauded and award-winning of any chef cooking today, with Michael winning two Michelin stars at both Gidleigh Park and The Latymer. After leaving them behind, this year Michael bought a small rural pub called The Angel Inn in Hetton; when it’s up and running, we’re no doubt the Michelin Guide inspectors will be among the first through the door.

Michael Caines made his name at Gidleigh Park, winning the country house hotel two Michelin stars and retaining them for an incredible seventeen years. A few years ago he left to open his own restaurant and hotel just south of Exeter, Devon called Lympstone Manor, which has already won a star. His food is steeped in the French classics, but he’s not afraid to take on influences from every corner of the culinary world. Quality of ingredients, a deftness of touch and a stunning ability to create edible works of art sets him apart as a master of cuisine.