Fred Sirieix (; born 27 January 1972) is a French

maître d'hôtel The ''maître d'hôtel'' (; ), head waiter, host, waiter captain, or ''maître d ( , ) manages the public part, or "front of the house", of a formal restaurant. The responsibilities of a ''maître d'hôtel'' generally include supervising the wa ...

best known for appearing on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's '' First Dates'', and

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

's '' Million Pound Menu''. Sirieix grew up in

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

, France and trained to work in

front of house In the performing arts, front of house (FOH) is the part of a performance venue that is open to the public. In theatres and live music venues, it consists of the auditorium and foyers, as opposed to the stage and backstage areas. In a theatre, ...

in a

Michelin-starred The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of ...

restaurant in France before working at

La Tante Claire La Tante Claire (''The Aunt Claire'') was a restaurant in Chelsea, London, which opened in 1977 and 1998. Owned and operated by Pierre Koffmann, it gained three Michelin stars in 1983, and held all three until the restaurant moved premises in 1998 ...

in London. Until 2019 he was the general manager of Michelin-starred restaurant ''Galvin at Windows'' at the London Hilton. Sirieix is the founder of National Waiters Day, the training tool the Art of Service, and the Galvin Cup and Galvin's Chance charities. He helped to launch the Right Course, which teaches prisoners about the

service industry The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

, and has also released a book called ''First Dates: The Art of Love'' and a music track, "La Vie Continue". He has been featured in an ITV show, with

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a tot ...

and Gino D'Acampo, entitled '' Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip'' (2019), and ''Remarkable Places to Eat'' on

(2019).

Early life

Sirieix was brought up in

, France. His parents both worked in

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health pro ...

and he says they inspired him to work in the service industry: "The conversation around the dinner table was all about patient care. It was about making sure people had a good experience.”

Career

Sirieix began his career in the food industry at catering college, receiving some training as a chef, before quickly deciding to focus on front of house. He trained at a Michelin-starred restaurant in France, before moving to London restaurant La Tante Claire where he worked as a . Following this, he worked at Le Gavroche, Sartoria and Brasserie Roux. He was the general manager at the restaurant ''Galvin at Windows'' for 14 years (left in December 2019), a Michelin-starred restaurant on the 28th floor of the London Hilton hotel on

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from ...

. On Christmas Day 2012, Sirieix launched National Waiters Day to celebrate the work of front of house staff and attract people into the profession. In 2011, he launched The Art of Service - a board game for teaching customer service in hotels and restaurants. Sirieix is also involved in charity work, creating a cocktail competition called the Galvin Cup, which awards young bartenders. He also created the charity Galvin's Chance, which supports underprivileged young front of house staff in London and Scotland's best hotels, restaurants and bars. In 2017, Sirieix, along with Novus, launched the Right Course, which remodels prison staff restaurants to operate as high street restaurants to teach prisoners cooking and about other aspects of service industry.

Television

Sirieix is the ''Maître d on Channel 4's ''First Dates'', deciding to be part of the show because "it sounded fun and you have to consider any opportunity. I looked carefully at it and became sure it was a good programme at heart." He was also ''Maître d' '' on the ''First Dates'' spin-off show, ''First Dates Abroad''. In addition to ''First Dates'', Sirieix, along with celebrity chef Michel Roux Jr, co-hosted

's ''Michel Roux's Service''. In 2012, he appeared on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

's ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with various professional backg ...

'' whilst the programme filmed at Galvin at Windows. In 2017, he appeared in

's ''Tried and Tasted: The Ultimate Shopping List''. In 2018, he presented '' Million Pound Menu'', a new show for

. In December 2017, he appeared in ITV's ''Gordon, Gino and Fred's Great Christmas Roast'', alongside

and Gino D'Acampo. In 2019, he hosted the

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 7–16 ...

series ''Step Up to the Plate'' with Allegra McEvedy where they tested 8 young people in each episode to see if they had the skills to run their own restaurant. A second series was broadcast in 2021. In 2019, he presented a series on

entitled ''Remarkable Places to Eat'', in which he was taken by chefs to their favourite restaurants in different cities. In 2019, he co-presented the

series ''

Snackmasters ''Snackmasters'' is a BAFTA-nominated British television programme, presented by Fred Sirieix and Jayde Adams, and produced by Optomen Television and Channel 4. The programme was broadcast on Channel 4 and streams on All 4. The programme sees ...

'' with comedian Jayde Adams, in which two ''

haute cuisine ''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is the cuisine of "high-level" establishments, gourmet restaurants, and luxury hotels. ''Haute cuisine'' is characterized by the meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food at a high pric ...

'' chefs are challenged with recreating a well-known brand of

snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are ...

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredie ...

product, such as KFC's Zinger burger or Monster Munch crisps, from scratch. Two further series were broadcast in 2020 and 2021. In June 2022, he and his fiancée appeared in Channel 4 series

Celebrity Gogglebox ''Gogglebox'' is a British reality television series created by Stephen Lambert, Tania Alexander and Tim Harcourt, and broadcast on Channel 4. The series documents families and groups of friends around the United Kingdom who are filmed for thei ...

Other ventures

In 2016, Sirieix released a book called ''First Dates: The Art of Love''. In 2015, Sirieix released a music track with Mark King from the band

Level 42 Level 42 is an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s. Their highest-charting single in the UK was " Lessons in Love", which reached number three on th ...

and rapper XO MAN called "" ("Life Goes On"). Sirieix describes it as "a song about love, loss and everything in between". In 2021 it was announced he would be dancing with

Dianne Buswell Dianne Claire Buswell (born 6 May 1989) is an Australian professional dancer. She is best known for her appearances on the British television show ''Strictly Come Dancing''. After competing on ''Dancing with the Stars'' in Australia, she joined ...

in the 2021 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special.

Awards

In 2010, Sirieix was nominated for the Cateys manager of the year award, winning it three years later in 2013. In October 2011, he won the National Restaurant Awards' Personality of the Year for his charity work and promoting the hospitality profession. He was voted Educator of the Year in 2012 at the Imbibe awards and in March 2014, he was awarded an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

from the

University of West London The University of West London (UWL) is a public research university in the United Kingdom with campuses in Ealing, Brentford, and in Reading, Berkshire. The university has roots in 1860, when the Lady Byron School was founded, later Ealing C ...

Personal life

Angela Spendolini-Sirieix 2022 National Lottery Athlete of the Year

Sirieix lives with his Jamaican fiancée identified publicly only as "Fruitcake". His two children from a previous relationship, also live in

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vil ...

. His daughter is professional British diver

Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix (; born 11 September 2004) is a British professional Diving (sport), diver. In her breakthrough year of 2022, she became a World junior, two-time European senior, two-time Commonwealth Games and two-time national senior ...

. He was in the crowd to witness her win gold in the Women’s 10m Platform at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England b ...

in Birmingham.

References

External links

*
Fred Sirieix
at Biogs.com
Fred Sirieix
at ''The Seven Sins of...'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sirieix, Fred 1972 births Living people People from Limoges French expatriates in England Channel 4 people French television personalities