Marco Pierre Whiteis a British chef, restaurateur, and television personality. In 1995, he became the first British chef to be awarded three Michelin stars. He has trained chefs including Mario Batali, Shannon Bennett, Gordon Ramsay, Curtis Stone, Phil Howard and Stephen Terry. He has been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" and the enfant terrible of the UK restaurant scene.
Career
White first trained at Hotel St George in Harrogate and then at the Box Tree in Ilkley. In 1981, he moved to London with "£7.36, a box of books, and a bag of clothes", and began his classical training as a commis with Albert and Michel Roux at Le Gavroche. He continued his training under Pierre Koffman at La Tante Claire, moving to work in the kitchen of Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir, and later with Nico Ladenis of Chez Nico at Ninety Park Lane. He then branched out on his own, working in the kitchen at the Six Bells public house in the Kings Road with assistant Mario Batali.
In 1987, White opened Harveys in Wandsworth Common, London, where he won his first Michelin star almost immediately, and his second a year later. He also won the Newcomer Award at the 1987 The Catey Awards, run by The Caterer magazine.
White's protégés who worked at Harveys include Gordon Ramsay, Phil Howard, Stephen Terry, and Éric Chavot.
He later became chef-patron of The Restaurant Marco Pierre White in the dining room at the former Hyde Park Hotel, where he won the third Michelin star, and then moved to the Oak Room at the Le Méridien Piccadilly Hotel.
In 1995, White became the first British chef to be awarded three Michelin stars and, at 33 years old, the youngest chef to achieve three stars to that point. His record was surpassed by Massimiliano Alajmo in 2002, who achieved three stars at the age of 28.
Although White worked for seventeen years to pursue his ambition, he ultimately found that, in spite of his accomplishments, recognition and fame, his career did not provide him with adequate returns in his personal life. So, in 1999, he retired and returned his Michelin stars.
