April Bloomfield (born 1974) is a British chef who has opened two New York restaurants:

The Spotted Pig The Spotted Pig was a gastropub located at 314 West 11th Street (at Greenwich Street) in the West Village in Manhattan in New York City. The 100-seat gastropub was owned by Ken Friedman. Mario Batali was a primary investor. The chef was April Bl ...

(closed January 26, 2020) and The Breslin Bar & Dining Room. Bloomfield had previously worked at several restaurants in the United Kingdom, including The River Café and

Bibendum Bibendum (), commonly referred to in English as the Michelin Man or Michelin Tyre Man, is the official mascot of the Michelin tyre company. A humanoid figure consisting of stacked white tyres, it was introduced at the Lyon Exhibition of 1894 wh ...

Early life and education

Bloomfield was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, West Midlands in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Her father was an engineer, while her mother worked from home for Halcyon Days Ltd, painting bomboniere. She originally wanted to become a police officer but changed her mind when she discovered that she had missed out on the police cadet scheme. She then decided to attend catering college alongside her sister, where she realised that cooking was a career she wanted. Following college, she began working at the

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a divisio ...

in Birmingham before moving to London to work at Kensington Place and later at

. She moved to work in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

but soon returned to London. After working at several more restaurants, she started working at The River Café after she secured a position there through a friend. She credits her time at the River Café with

Rose Gray Clemency Anne Rosemary Gray (née Swann; 28 January 1939 – 28 February 2010) was a British chef and cookery writer. With Ruth Rogers, she set up The River Café in 1987, which won a Michelin star in 1998. It was here that the talents of Jamie ...

and

Ruth Rogers Ruth Rogers, Baroness Rogers of Riverside, (; born 7 July 1948) is an American-born British chef who owns and runs the Michelin starred Italian restaurant The River Café in Hammersmith, London.Adam LusheRecord 10 women chefs win Michelin sta ...

as being the time which taught her to cook.

Career

Whilst at the River Cafe, she was scouted by American chef

Mario Batali Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American chef, writer, and restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and N ...

following

Jamie Oliver James Trevor Oliver MBE OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and open many restaurants. Oliver reac ...

's suggestion, to open a bistro-style restaurant in New York City. She was flown out to New York, where she was offered the job after a ten-hour interview with Batali, which saw the pair eat at a variety of the restaurants in the city. After spending the summer working at

Chez Panisse Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California, restaurant, known as one of the originators of the style of cooking known as California cuisine, and the farm-to-table movement. The restaurant emphasizes ingredients rather than technique and has deve ...

to familiarise herself with American ingredients, she moved to New York in the autumn of 2003, and opened the

gastropub A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s. Etymology The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when Dav ...

with business partner

Ken Friedman Ken Friedman (born September 19, 1949 in New London, Connecticut) is a design researcher. He was a member of Fluxus, an international laboratory for experimental art, architecture, design, and music. Friedman joined Fluxus in 1966 as the youngest m ...

. The restaurant went on to win a

Michelin star 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 star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

in 2005, the first time a specific list had been produced for New York City. She opened a second restaurant, located in the

Ace Hotel Ace Hotel is a chain of hotels headquartered in Los Angeles and New York City. Founded in 1999 in Seattle, it operates hotels primarily in the United States, with locations in Portland, Oregon; Brooklyn, New York City; Palm Springs, California; ...

New York, called

The Breslin ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

, which later also won a Michelin star. She also opened an oyster bar in the hotel called The John Dory Oyster Bar. Bloomfield and Friedman then opened "Salvation Taco" in the Pod 39 Hotel in New York City, followed by the revitalisation and reopening of "Tosca Cafe" in San Francisco. In February 2016, Bloomfield and Friedman opened "Salvation Burger" in the Pod 51 Hotel in Midtown East.

Spotted Pig scandal

In December 2017, her co-owner at

, was accused of sexual harassment in the ''New York Times''. The article's authors interviewed many employees who said April Bloomfield knew about everything happening at the Spotted Pig. "Several other employees say they also brought their complaints and concerns about Mr Friedman to Ms Bloomfield. Her response was always the same. "That's who he is. Get used to it. Or go work for someone else." April also acknowledged her restaurant's third-floor nickname, 'the rape room'." Friedman subsequently resigned from management duties of their restaurant group, and eventually Bloomfield posted a Twitter apology for "not protecting her staff". Bloomfield and Friedman later separated as business partners, and Bloomfield went public with a defence of her silence in those years due to allegedly working in an abusive environment herself, including being threatened with having her

green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

revoked by Friedman if she did not co-operate with him in every way.

Honors

Chef Bloomfield is notable for achieving the highest score of any single challenger in ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, whi ...

'' history, accomplishing the feat during her 56–53 victory over

Michael Symon Michael D. Symon (born September 19, 1969) is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is of Greek, Sicilian, and Eastern European descent. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as '' Iron Chef America ...

in 2008. As of the 2012 Michelin Guide, she is one of ten female chefs in the United States to hold a Michelin star. She lost the star a few years later.

Published works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomfield, April Living people 1974 births People from Birmingham, West Midlands English chefs American women chefs Alumni of the University of Birmingham Holiday Inn people American chefs Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants James Beard Foundation Award winners University College Birmingham 21st-century American women