Brian James Turner (born 7 May 1946) is a British

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

, writer and TV personality based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He appeared as a cook on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

's ''

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

'' from 1994, has appeared on numerous occasions on '' Saturday Kitchen'' and has also presented various other cookery programmes.

Career

Turner was born in Halifax,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. During his early career, his mentor was the food writer and broadcaster Michael Smith. Turner trained at various hotels and restaurants, including Simpson's in the Strand and the Savoy Grill, both under Richard Shepherd. Turner then went to Beau Rivage Palace in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, returning to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

to work at

Claridge's Claridge's is a 5-star hotels, 5-star hotel at the corner of Brook Street, London, Brook Street and Davies Street in Mayfair, London. The hotel is owned and managed by the Maybourne Hotel Group. History Founding Claridge's traces its origins to ...

and then in 1971 the Capital Hotel where Turner and Richard Shepherd earned 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 stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

. In early 1973 he took some time to work as a Chef Lecturer. Turner then took over as Chef de Cuisine in 1975 after Shepherd left, and then launched the Greenhouse Restaurant and the Metro Wine Bar. Among the chefs who worked with Turner at the Capital were

Gary Rhodes Gary Rhodes (22 April 1960 – 26 November 2019) was an English restaurateur and television chef, known for his love of English cuisine and ingredients and for his distinctive spiked hair style. He fronted shows such as ''MasterChef'', '' Mas ...

and Shaun Hill. In 1986, Turner opened his own restaurant ''Turner's'', in Walton Street,

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

, London. He ran this until 2001, when it was sold. In February 2002, Brian Turner's Restaurant opened at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

, and in April 2003 he launched Brian Turner Mayfair at the Millennium Hotel, London. January 2005 saw the launch of Turner's Grill at the Copthorne Hotel

Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

- Windsor. Brian Turner Mayfair closed at the end of July 2008, to be replaced by an Italian restaurant unconnected to Turner. In 2003 he invented the Brian Turner - S & C, which is a snack food. Currently, Turner is working as a consultant chef at a South African wine bar and restaurant called Vivat Bacchus.

TV work

Turner worked for many years as resident chef on

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

's '' This Morning''. He was a regular guest cook on

's ''

'' which he joined in 1994 as well as presenting other cookery programmes including his own BBC series "Anything You Can Cook". Lately Turner has made appearances on

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, trading as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through a join ...

's ''Perfect'',

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

's '' Saturday Kitchen'', ''A Taste Of Britain'' with Janet Street-Porter (2014), ''Life On A Plate'' (2015) and ITV’s ''James Martin’s Saturday Morning'' (2021). Turner has also appeared on '' Daily Cooks Challenge'' where two cooks prepare different dishes for a celebrity guest. He appeared on Dictionary Corner on ''Countdown'' in May 2019. Brian made a return to TV as a guest chef on James Martin’s Saturday morning show on 14th Jan 2023, when he explained that he had suffered a stroke in June 2022, thanked the London hospital that treated him and asked viewers to excuse him as he now stammers intermittently. On the show, James Martin described Turner as his ‘TV Dad’.

Awards and honours

In 1997, Turner was awarded the Craft Guild of Chef's Special Award for achievement within the industry together with The Caterer Catey Award for 'Chef of the Year' as well as the 'Wedgwood Award' for outstanding services to the hospitality industry. Turner has been the Chairman of the Academy of Culinary Arts for nine years and is the chairman of the UK Hospitality Skills Board. He has also been awarded an Honorary Professorship of

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

because of his work and commitment to The London School of Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure and catering education in general. On 15 June 2002, Turner was created a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for his services to tourism and training in the catering industry in the Queen's Birthday Honours. In 2006, Turner was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from

Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univer ...

for his services to Hospitality & Catering. He is a former alumnus of the Leeds College of Food Technology a predecessor College of

. In 2008, Turner was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...

for his services to catering.

References

External links

Brian Turner's website

Brian Turner's recipes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Brian 1946 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English television chefs English television presenters People from Halifax, West Yorkshire