The Naked Chef: English Food Hero
In England Food Wasn't Sexy Till Naked Chef Jamie Oliver Came Along
May 20, 2007
England's food has improved enormously in the last ten years, with celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Raymond Blanc, Marco Pierre White, Rick Stein and Gary Rhodes all becoming superstar chefs, on TV and in the cookery bestseller lists. They share their recipes with us, and in some cases go on to establish restaurant empires, with kitchens all over the world seemingly under their command. But one of Britain's best-known celebrity chefs has always been a bit different: the Naked Chef himself, Jamie Oliver.
Jamie Oliver's kitchen training was in his parents' pub, The Cricketers, in Essex. The food was apparently a cut above the average English pub grub, but still basically good simple English home cooking. Jamie was helping out in the kitchen from an early age, and as a teenager he knew he wanted to be a chef. He attended the Westminster Catering College, then went to work in France before getting a job with another top chef, Antonio Carluccio. It was here he got a love for pasta and other delicious Italian food.
Jamie Oliver then went to work for Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers at the highly-acclaimed River Café, in London's Hammersmith. It was here he says he learned to appreciate the importance of good fresh ingredients, and keeping things simple so the flavors would show through. It was also here he was spotted by a TV crew, who were making a programme about the River Café. The cheeky young kitchen worker had a personality that came right out of the screen, and he was signed up to do a series of his own and given the inspired and attention-grabbing nickname of the Naked Chef.
Since then Naked Jamie has gone on to make more TV series, write a series of best-selling cookery books, and become one of the most familiar faces and names in the country. Everyone has heard of Jamie Oliver, and he became a national hero in Britain when the TV series about his setting up of his restaurant Fifteen was broadcast.
Some star chefs go on to open restaurant after restaurant, in London and New York, founding their own empires to fine dining. Jamie Oliver was always different. For s start, after several TV series and best-sellers, he didn't actually have a restaurant of his own. He was a star chef without a kitchen. And then when he decided to open his first restaurant, he decided to staff it with disadvantaged youngsters who he took in almost off the street with the intention of turning them into culinary professionals.
The TV series showed him not only putting his own money on the line, and putting strains on his family life, but also dealing with the emotional torment of handling these wayward youngsters. Some of them had had nothing in life, and were being given the chance to make something of themselves. The frustration and anger and disappointment all showed on Jamie's face when he had to discipline some of them for not turning up for work.
It was a happy ending for most of the youngsters, at least. Fifteen opened, and to generally good reviews. Then another opened, in Cornwall, and one in Amsterdam and another in Melbourne. And if visiting London, who could not want to eat in Fifteen, to see how the staff are getting on, and taste the food the Naked Chef taught them to prepare.
Fifteen London is open seven days a week, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For breakfast you just turn up, and it's first come, first served. For lunch and dinner, in either the more casual Trattoria or the formal Dining Room, you'll need to book well ahead. They take booking up to six months in advance, that's how popular it is. Click here to go to the Fifteen London website, check out the menus and make a reservation.
Click here to visit Jamie Oliver's own impressive website, complete with diary, podcasts, recipes, online store and loads of fun stuff.
