Celebrity Chefs

Famous faces in South Oxfordshire

Is there anything Antony Worrall Thompson doesn’t do? Public school educated he is a chef, restaurateur, author, journalist and farmer.

He swam the channel when he was 16 and later in life completed a stint in the jungle in "I’m a celebrity get me out of here." A patron of Henley Food Festival he lives near the town and is one of South Oxfordshire’s most active "tv celebrity chefs."

Paul Clerehugh was once a rock guitarist, working with singers such as John Otway and Wild Willy Barret, but in 1990 bought the Crooked Billet at Stoke Row. He claims he chose that particular pub "because it was the cheapest on the market with a tree growing through the floor and out through the ceiling."

Simon Rogan acquired his reputation as the Chef Proprietor of the Michelen starred L’Enclumein Cartmel in the Lake District and has announced plans to buy the Imperial Hotel in Henley and open a new fine dining restaurant there.

Raymond Blanc was born in France in 1949 and arrived in England in 1972 to work as a waiter at a hotel in Witney, near Oxford. When the chef became ill he took over that role and two years later the hotel's restaurant gained entry into the Michelin guide.

When he was just 28 Raymond opened his first restaurant, in Oxford, and one year later it was named Egon Ronay Restaurant of the Year.

In 1984 he achieved what he describes as "a personal vision" when he opened Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Great Milton. It is the only country house hotel in the UK that has achieved two Michelin stars for a total of 19 years.

Henley Food Festival's patrons include Roy Ackerman, whose career spans over 40 years in the hospitality and restaurant business. He started his career as an apprentice chef and now represents Britain throughout the world in his role as chairman of the World Master of Culinary Arts. His current projects include acting as a consultant to leading chefs and restaurateurs.

Mike Robinson is the festival's newest patron in recognition of his passion for game and wild food, which is served at The Pot Kiln, his rural pub and restaurant just outside South Oxfordshire. Mike is The Field's cookery writer and makes regular appearances on UKTV.