Lisa Goodwin-Allen (born Lisa Allen, 29 April 1981) is a British chef best known for being the executive chef of the

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 restaurants in certain geographic ...

Northcote restaurant. She was also one of four winning chefs on season five of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

cooking show ''

Great British Menu ''Great British Menu'' is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four-course banquet. Format Series one and two were presented by Jennie Bond, the former BBC Royal correspondent, where ...

''.

Career

Allen began her

culinary Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking, and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...

career by working at the restaurant

Holbeck Ghyll Holbeck Ghyll is a restaurant located in Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere, Cumbria, England. "The late 19th century building was once Lord Lonsdale's hunting lodge and only became a hotel in the 1970s. It won a Michelin star in 1998 but lo ...

Windermere, Cumbria Windermere is the largest natural lake in England near a town of the same name. It is also a name used in a number of places, including: Australia * Electoral division of Windermere, Tasmania * Electoral district of Windermere, former Victorian el ...

. She worked there on a part-time basis whilst completing three

National Vocational Qualification National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are practical work-based awards in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland that are achieved through training and assessment. The regulatory framework supporting NVQs was withdrawn in 2015 and replaced by th ...

in catering. She also worked at Le Champignon Sauvage in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, Gloucestershire, which resulted in her being given a full-time position upon completing her college course. After a year at the restaurant she felt that she wanted to return home to the north of England and found employment at Northcote under Nigel Haworth as a demi chef de partie in 2001, at the age of 20. She later explained that when she joined, she originally intended to stay for a year or two and then move on. After a year she was promoted to chef de partie. In 2003, she became a junior sous chef and was again promoted, to sous chef, after a year. In 2004 she was named head chef of the restaurant and placed in overall charge of the kitchen, at the age of 23. In 2018 she successfully retained the Michelin star at Northcote that had been held by Haworth since 1996, as he moved on to be chef ambassador of the restaurant. She was a finalist for the Roux Scholarship in 2006, which was awarded to Pravin Sharma. In 2008 she was named Chef of the Year by the Northern Hospitality Awards. She competed in the fifth season of the BBC cooking show ''

'' in 2010 in the north-west section of the competition. Allen was the only female chef competing in the competition. She competed against fellow local chefs Johnnie Mountain and Aiden Byrne.

Marcus Wareing Marcus Wareing (born 29 June 1970) is an English celebrity chef who was Chef-Owner of the one- Michelin-starred restaurant Marcus until its permanent closure in December 2023. Since 2014, Wareing has been a judge on '' MasterChef: The Professiona ...

was the mentor for the group, which saw her win the round and go through to the final. She ended up with a winning dish, becoming one of four chefs to cook at a banquet hosted by

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

. Her winning dish was a rabbit and leek turnover with

piccalilli Piccalilli, or mustard pickle, is a British interpretation of South Asian pickles, a relish of chopped and pickled vegetables and spices.Spelling as per The Chambers Dictionary, 1994, . Regional recipes vary considerably. Etymology The ''Oxfo ...

. In 2011, she was named Restaurant Chef of the Year by the

Craft Guild of Chefs The Craft Guild of Chefs is the main professional association for chefs in the UK. History Established in 1885 under its former name of the Cookery and Food Association, it is sited near Kew Gardens station in the London Borough of Richmond upo ...

. She appeared in series 8, episode 18 of '' MasterChef: The Professionals'' as a chef mentor for the semi-finalists. After at least 23 years of working, Allen's departure from Northcote was announced on 10 March 2025. One month later, in late April 2025, she reversed her departure when Northcote was sold by Stafford Collection, which owned the restaurant since 2019, to an investment firm Silkstone Finance.

Personal life

Allen has an allergy to shellfish. In ''The Christmas Great British Menu'' 2020 she won three of the six courses that made it to the final banquet that was served to NHS and key workers in thanks for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin-Allen, Lisa Living people British women chefs People from Lancaster, Lancashire 1981 births Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants British chefs