Marcus Wareing, Marcus Wareing Restaurants, London

Marcus Wareing is the head judge on MasterChef: The Professionals and the chef patron and owner of three restaurants including the two Michelin starred Marcus. The Lancashire born chef’s talent for cooking was discovered while he was at school in Stockport when a teacher complimented his pastry work. It was at 18 that his restaurant career started, when Marcus started working at The Savoy under Anton Edelmann. He then moved to Le Gavroche to work with Albert Roux before travelling to Amsterdam and New York in 1991 to hone his cooking abilities. In 1993 he began working with Gordon Ramsay at Aubergine, London, which was the start of a long professional relationship between the two. Marcus received the Restaurant Association’s Young Chef of the Year award in 1995 and in the same year he did a placement at Daniel’s in New York with Daniel Boulud and a six month placement at Guy Savoy in Paris. In 1996 he returned to the UK and opened L’Oranger with A-Z Restaurants, taking on the role of head chef. Just a year later Marcus received the Acorn Award and his first Michelin Star, at the age of 26. He opened Pétrus with Gordon Ramsay in 1999, and within seven months of opening Pétrus had its first Michelin Star. In 2002 it also gained five AA Rosettes. In 2003 Pétrus moved to The Berkeley Hotel and retained its Michelin Star. In the same year Marcus became chef patron of the Grill Room at The Savoy and opened Banquette at The Savoy. In 2004, alongside head chef Josh Emmett, Marcus earned The Grill Room its first Michelin Star, the first in the history of The Savoy. Marcus’ first TV appearance was on The Great British Menu in 2006, where he cooked custard tart for the Queen’s 80th birthday. His first cookbook, ‘How to cook the perfect…’ was released in 2007, followed by the second Michelin Star for Pétrus in 2008. 2008 was a busy year for Marcus, who also launched Marcus Wareing Restaurants with his wife Jane and took on the lease at The Berkeley Hotel, launching Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley. He also released two more cookbooks in 2008, ‘Knife Skills’ and ‘One perfect ingredient, three ways to cook it’. His fourth cookbook, ‘Nutmeg and Custard’, was released in 2009. In 2010 Marcus was invited to be a guest chef at the Sydney Food Festival where he hosted and cooked at three dinners with the Ivy Group. The second restaurant in the Marcus Wareing Restaurants group, The Gilbert Scott, at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, opened in 2011. In the same year Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley was awarded Best Restaurant by Harden’s Restaurant Guide for the sixth time between 2007 and 2011. In 2013 Marcus’ fifth cookbook ‘The Gilbert Scott Book of British Food’ was released, and in 2014 Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley closed for refurbishments and was re-opened as Marcus. In the same year the third restaurant in group was opened, called Tredwell’s, in Covent Garden. 2014 was also the year that Marcus became head judge on MasterChef: The Professionals. He currently lives in London with his wife and three children, Jake, Archie and Jessie. By Samantha Wright