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Clare Smyth (born 06 September 1978) is a Northern Irish
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 ...
. She is the Chef Patron of three Michelin starred Core by Clare Smyth which opened in 2017. Previously she was Chef Patron at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay from 2012 to 2016, won the Chef of the Year award in 2013, and achieved a perfect score in the 2015 edition of the Good Food Guide. Smyth has also appeared on television shows such as ''
Masterchef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...
'' and '' Saturday Kitchen''. In 2017, Smyth opened her first restaurant, Core, in London. It was awarded three
Michelin stars 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 the 2021 Michelin Guide, which made her the first Northern Irish woman to have a restaurant awarded three Michelin stars. Her second restaurant, Oncore, opened in Sydney in 2021. With Oncore gaining Three Hats honour in 2022, Smyth became the first ever female chef and second overall to gain three Michelin Stars and become a Three-Hatted Chef. The news was also mentioned when she was a guest judge in Season 15 of MasterChef Australia.


Early life

Smyth grew up on a farm in
County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...
. She is the youngest of three children of her father William, a farmer, and mother Doreen, who worked as a waitress at a local restaurant. At the age of fifteen, Smyth held a job over a holiday period at a local restaurant, inspiring her to become a chef. She left school at sixteen to study catering at Highbury College in
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
, Hampshire.


Culinary career

While at culinary college, Smyth served an apprenticeship at Grayshott Hall, Surrey. She left that post to work full-time at
Terence Conran Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was a British designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989. The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that Conran "m ...
's restaurant at Michelin House, London. She followed this with a six-month period in Australia working for a catering company, and on her return to the UK she staged at a variety of restaurants including
The Waterside Inn The Waterside Inn, in Bray, Berkshire, England, is a restaurant founded by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux after the success of Le Gavroche. It is currently run by Michel's son, Alain. The restaurant has three Michelin stars, and in 2010 ...
and
Gidleigh Park Gidleigh Park is a 5-star hotel and restaurant located in Gidleigh, near Chagford, Devon, England. The restaurant currently holds 1 Michelin Guide, Michelin Star and three rosettes from The AA. The hotel belongs to Andrew Brownsword Hotels which ...
. She worked at the restaurant of the St Enodoc Hotel in Rock, Cornwall, first as
sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members o ...
and then as head chef. While there, she won the title of Young Cornish Fish Chef of the Year. In 2002,
Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...
offered Smyth a post at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. In 2007, she was announced as the new head chef of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, becoming the first female chef in the United Kingdom to run a restaurant with three
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 ...
s. Of the 121 British Michelin-starred restaurants at the time of her appointment, only seven had female head chefs. She had left Ramsay's restaurant to work for a year and a half in
Alain Ducasse Alain Ducasse (; born 13 September 1956) is a French-born Monégasque chef. He operates a number of restaurants, including Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, which holds three stars (the top rating) in the Michelin Guide. Early life and career D ...
's Le Louis XV restaurant in Monaco, before returning once more to the UK to run the Chelsea-based restaurant. She took over from Simone Zanoni, who was heading to
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
to open a new Gordon Ramsay restaurant. In 2013, Smyth was named the Good Food Guide's 'National Chef of the Year'. Smyth was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...
(MBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to the hospitality industry. Smyth was awarded a perfect ten score by the Good Food Guide of the UK's 2015. She won the Chef Award at the 2016 The Catey Awards, previously won by her mentor
Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...
in 2000.


2016–2021: Core and Oncore

Smyth left Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in 2016 to open her first solo restaurant, Core. Core opened in London's
Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...
neighbourhood in July 2017. In April 2018, Core was named Best Restaurant at the GQ Food and Drink Awards. Smyth was named the World's Best Female Chef 2018 by the World's 50 Best Restaurants. In 2018, Smyth appeared as a judge in the "UK" episode of '' The Final Table'', season 1. On 1 October 2018, Core was awarded two Michelin stars in the 2019 Michelin Guide. Core was awarded three Michelin stars in the 2021 Michelin Guide, which made her the first British woman to have a restaurant awarded three Michelin stars. In early 2021, it was reported that Smyth would open a restaurant in Sydney, Australia. Oncore, on the 26th floor of the Crown Sydney in
Barangaroo Barangaroo ( – ) was an Aboriginal Australian woman best known for her interactions with the British colony of New South Wales during the first years of the European colonisation of Australia. A member of the Cammeraygal clan, she was the wi ...
opened in November 2021 with head chef Alan Stuart. A review in ''Bloomberg'' described Oncore as "Sydney's best restaurant". Due to ongoing border restrictions to prevent the transmission of
Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
, Smyth was not able to be at the opening.


2022-present

In May 2025, she collaborated with the champagne brand
Dom Pérignon Dom Pérignon ( , ) is a brand of vintage Champagne. It is named after Dom Pérignon, a Benedictine monk who was an important quality pioneer for Champagne wine but who, contrary to popular myths, did not discover the Champagne method for makin ...
for a campaign named "Creation is an Eternal Journey".


Personal life

Smyth lives in Wandsworth with her husband, Grant, who works in finance.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Clare 1978 births People from County Antrim Women chefs from Northern Ireland Living people Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants Members of the Order of the British Empire