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Gary Rhodes

Born	(1960-04-22) 22 April 1960 (age 52) London, England
Cooking style	British cuisine
Current restaurant(s) Rhodes W1 Brasserie Rhodes 24 Rhodes Restaurant Arcadian Rhodes Rhodes D7
Official website
http://www.garyrhodes.com/

Gary Rhodes OBE^[1] (born 22 April 1960) is an English restaurateur, cookery writer, and chef, known for his love of British cuisine and distinctive spiked hair style (which has since been shaved off).

He has fronted shows such as MasterChef, MasterChef USA, Hell's Kitchen, and his own series, Rhodes Around Britain. In 2006 he competed to represent the South of England in the BBC's Great British Menu, but lost to Atul Kochhar.

As well as owning four restaurants, Rhodes also has his own line of cookware and bread mixes.

Rhodes can now be seen on the new ITV1 programme Saturday Cooks, as well as the UKTV Food show Local Food Hero and in television adverts for Flora margarine, some of which featured him "driving a van topped with a giant styrofoam crumpet" which were banned.^[2]

Early years[link]

Born in south London in 1960, his family moved to Gillingham where he went to The Howard School for Boys in Rainham, Kent. He then went on to catering college in Thanet where he met his wife Jennie.

Career[link]

Rhodes in 2008

His first job was at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. He was hit by a transit van in Amsterdam leaving him with serious injuries. He then toured Europe in various jobs before becoming sous chef at the Reform Club, Pall Mall and then on to the Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge, earning it a Michelin Star in 2001.^[3]

Rhodes achieved the prestigious Head Chef position at the Castle Hotel, Taunton in Somerset. He retained the hotel's Michelin star, at just 26 years of age.

In 1990 Rhodes returned to London with his family to become Head Chef at the Greenhouse Restaurant in Mayfair. The menu became known for reviving British classics, including faggots, fish cakes, braised oxtails and bread and butter pudding. He was awarded a Michelin star for the Greenhouse in January 1996.

In 1997 he opened his first restaurant City Rhodes, and in 1997 Rhodes in the Square – both with global contract catering company Sodexho. This partnership expanded into the brasseries of Rhodes and Co in Manchester, Edinburgh and Crawley.

Based primarily at Rhodes Twenty Four in one of London's tallest buildings, Tower 42, Gary also owns Arcadian Rhodes on the P&O superliner Arcadia, Cumberland Rhodes, and Rhodes Calabash, in Grenada. He is also a contributor to BBC Good Food magazine.

His first TV appearance was at the age of 27, courtesy of Glynn Christian on Hot Chefs. This led to Rhodes Around Britain and Gary's Perfect Christmas.

For two seasons, 2000 and 2001, Rhodes hosted the original MasterChef USA on PBS.

Rhodes has appeared on the BBC2 spoof game show Shooting Stars, during which hosts Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer asked him to 'represent fire through the medium of dance'.

He was created an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) on 17 June 2006.

Rhodes has recently completed the series Rhodes Across India with apprentices Bushra Akram, Scott Davis and Kalwant Sahota.

Rhodes has also completed a new series exploring Chinese cuisine called Rhodes Across China with Sous Chefs Melissa Syers and Teresa Tsang. 29 July 2008

Gary Rhodes was strongly criticised for his commercial tie in with Tate & Lyle in the late 1990s, and his recipes endorsed sugar and treacle products accordingly. His name was strategically printed on every Tate & Lyle sugar sachet across the country. Rhodes is now associated with a Cooking In Schools campaign with Flora UK.

Strictly Come Dancing[link]

Rhodes competed with partner Karen Hardy in the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing which began on 20 September 2008.

On 5 October 2008, Rhodes was voted off Strictly Come Dancing.

Restaurants[link]

• Rhodes W1, Cumberland Hotel – Restaurant in W1,London
• Rhodes 24 – located in the former NatWest Tower, now known as Tower 42 [1]
• Rhodes Calabash – located in the Calabash hotel, in Grenada
• Arcadian Rhodes – aboard the P&O liner Arcadia
• Oriana Rhodes at the Curzon – aboard the P&O liner Oriana
• Rhodes D7 Restaurant in Dublin – now closed
• Rhodes Mezzanine, [ Grosvenor House ], [ Dubai – United Arab Emirates ]
• Rhodes Twenty10, [ Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa ], [ Dubai – United Arab Emirates ]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• itv.com – Saturday Cooks!