James Martin (chef)

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For other persons named James Martin, see James Martin (disambiguation).

James Martin (born June 30, 1972 in Yorkshire) is an English celebrity chef who first appeared on television in 1996.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Television career
2 Personal life
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Martin was brought up on a farm in Yorkshire, which gave him a passion for gardening and home cooking. His father was Catering Manager at Castle Howard and Martin worked in the kitchens from the age of 10, cooking for the Queen Mother on one occasion when only 11 years old.

Whilst studying at Yorkshire Coast College, Scarborough, Martin was named Student of the Year three years running. After college his career took him to acclaimed kitchens in London and Europe. He then moved to the famous Chewton Glen in Hampshire. In 1993 he opened the Hotel du Vin and Bistro in Winchester where, as Head Chef, he changed the menu every day. It was a great success, with an eight-week waiting list for a weekend table. He now has two restaurants on the Ocean Village cruise ships in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. He owns a Deli in Winchester, called "Cadogan & James".

[edit] Television career

He first started to appear on television in 1996 with various programmes including "James Martin: Yorkshire's Finest" (set in various Yorkshire locations with an emphasis on Yorkshire cuisine) but came to wider public attention on the BBC 2 program Ready Steady Cook. In 2005 Martin was partnered with Camilla Dallerup in Strictly Come Dancing, a celebrity ballroom dancing TV show, coming fourth.

Martin co-presented BBC Food's "Stately Suppers" with Alistair Appleton, and then appeared on the Channel 4 programme Richard & Judy, where he would visit a member of the public in their own home who had been nominated to be cooked a 'comfort food' meal. He is now the presenter of the new version of the BBC 1 show Saturday Kitchen, which is being made by Cactus TV, the company behind the "Richard & Judy" show.

In 2007 he starred in a BBC 2 series named Sweet Baby James (named in reference to the James Taylor song) in which he focused on desserts, puddings and cakes while visiting places from his culinary past that have inspired his recipes. Upcoming chef Will Torrent appeared as his assistant. The book "James Martin's Desserts" which accompanied the series was a best seller.

Martin appeared on Blue Peter in April 2007 on Can You Cook It? being a celebrity judge choosing the new Blue Peter "Junior Chef", who was Jake Sawyers.

In June and July 2007, he appeared co-hosting the 12 Yard series The Great British Village Show on BBC 1. He finished off the year with a series on UKTV Food called James Martin's Christmas Feasts.

He filmed a 30 part series for the BBC in 2007 called Eating with the Enemy which is due to be shown early this year. James Martin holds the world record for carrot chopping in which he peeled and chopped 515g of carrots in one minute, during a Ready Steady Cook Children in Need Special.