Tags: Celebrity chefs , Marcus Wareing

Marcus Wareing

Thursday 25th September 2008 16:28

Chef Marcus Wareing is chef-patron of Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, which opened on 15 September 2008. His eponymous restaurant, on the site of the former Petrus which is ran with business partner Gordon Ramsay, is his first solo venture having cut ties with Gordon Ramsay Holdings. Marcus Wareing previously operated the two-Michelin-starred Petrus with Gordon Ramsay Holdings, the one-Michelin-starred Savoy Grill and Banquette, an American-style diner at the Savoy.

Marcus Wareing is recognised as a rising star on the gastronomic landscape and one of Britain’s leading chefs. In 2003 Marcus Wareing won the Catey Chef Award at the industry Oscars, the Catey Awards, and in 2004 he won Restaurateur of the Year at the Tatler Restaurant Awards.

Watch Marcus Wareing interview with Caterersearch.com

He attended Stanley High School and after attaining his City & Guilds qualifications at Southport Catering College, Wareing moved to London, aged 18, to work as a commis chef at the Savoy under chef de cuisine Anton Edelmann. Two years later, he moved to the legendary Le Gavroche where he worked for Albert Roux and it was here that he first met Gordon Ramsay. Between 1991 and 1991, he honed his knowledge of classic French cuisine while worked in various properties including the Point, just outside New York, the Grand Hotel in Amsterdam (with Albert Roux) and Gravetye Manor near East Grinstead in West Sussex.

In 1993, Ramsay asked Wareing to join him as sous chef in the launch of his new venture, Aubergine, in Chelsea, which opened in 1993. Wareing took a break from his role as sous chef at Aubergine in 1995 to work alongside Daniel Boulud in New York and Guy Savoy in Paris. It was during this period at the won the 1995 Young Chef of the Year by the Restaurant Association. In 1996, he returned to the UK to become head chef of A-Z’s new London restaurant, L’Oranger, a business in which he and Ramsay both held a stake and a year later, in January 1997 was awarded his first Michelin star.

However, he was sacked in 1998 (the day after Ramsay quit A-Z) following a row with the company over proposed four-year contracts and the non-payment of money from his 10% stake.

But, with Ramsay’s backing, he soon bounced back in 1999 as chef-patron of Pétrus (named after his favourite wine) in St James’s Street, London, which scooped a Michelin star within seven months of opening and was awarded the AA’s ultimate accolade of five AA rosettes.

2003 saw his role in the Ramsay empire expand as he took over the Savoy Grill (which achieved its first-ever Michelin star in early 2004), moved Pétrus into the Berkeley hotel to replace Pierre Koffmann’s two Michelin-starred La Tante Claire, and opened Banquette (his version of an American diner) above the Savoy Grill. He converted the old Pétrus site into the more accessible La Fleur, but closed it in early 2004 due to leasehold complications.

In 2005, he was rated 80th in the Caterersearch 100, a guide to the hospitality industry’s movers and shakers, and was given a “chef ranking” of 13.

In 2006, Marcus Wareing and Simon Rimmer competed in the northern head of the BBC television series Great British Menu, fronted by former Royal Correspondent Jenni Bond. Wareing beat Rimmer and went on to the final round. In the final, the public selected Marcus Wareing’s egg custard tart with garibaldi biscuits for the Queen’s 80th birthday banquet, which took place on 17 June 2006.

Wareing also took part in the second series of BBC2’s Great British Menu, but did not make it to the final and occasionally features in the weekend cookery programme Saturday Kitchen.

He is married to Jane, with two sons and a daughter Jessie. He published his first book, How to cook the perfect…, with Dorling Kindersley in 2007. However, in 2004 he was involved in the publication of The Cook's Book, writing a foreword and a section for this one-stop cooking reference.