Michael O'Hare (born June 1981) is a British chef from

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was chef-patron at

The Man Behind The Curtain The Man Behind the Curtain may refer to: * Wizard of Oz (character), the titular character of the various works in the ''Wizard of Oz'' canon * Other fictional characters, or other things, called by this phrase in allusion Allusion, or alluding ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, which was awarded 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 October 2015. He also ran The Rabbit in the Moon at the

National Football Museum The National Football Museum is England's national museum of Football in England, football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of association football, football ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. O'Hare began cooking whilst at university before becoming a professional chef, gaining experience at various restaurants including

John Burton-Race John William Burton-Race (born 1 May 1957) is a British former Michelin starred chef, television personality and celebrity chef, made famous by the Channel 4 series ''French Leave'' and its sequel ''Return of the Chef'' and '' I'm a Celebrity... ...

at The Landmark and

Noma Noma, NoMa, or NOMA may refer to: Places * NoMa, the area North of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., US ** NoMa–Gallaudet U station, on Washington Metro * Noma, Florida, US * NOMA, Manchester, a redevelopment in England * Noma District, ...

Early life and career

O'Hare was born in

England. He describes

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority. It is in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England, and is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdiv ...

, North Yorkshire, as his home town. From the age of 11 to 18 he studied classical and modern ballet. He briefly studied

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

Kingston University Kingston University London is a Public university, public research university located within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in South London, South West London, England. Its roots go back to the Kingston Technical Institute, founded ...

, London, deciding to leave the course after a few months. In his early twenties, he worked in a call centre in Thornaby-on-Tees for energy company nPower. It was during his time at university at the age of 19 that O'Hare began cooking: "I just liked going to the supermarket. I wasn't making sauces and all that. Just buying a bit of fish and grilling it." Instead of attending catering college, he decided to begin his cooking career learning within professional kitchens, with his first job at Judges in

Yarm Yarm-on-Tees, or simply Yarm, is a market town in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on a meander of the River Tees, extending south-east to the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven and south to the village of Kirklevington. A civil parish i ...

. Other restaurants where he worked include

Seaham Hall Seaham Hall is an English country house, now run as a spa hotel, in County Durham. History Seaham Hall was built in the 1790s by Sir Ralph Milbanke, 6th Baronet. In 1815 the poet Lord Byron married Anne Isabella Milbanke at Seaham Hall. The fr ...

, working for John Burton-Race at The Landmark and Noma before becoming head chef at The Blind Swine in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. In 2014, O'Hare opened his restaurant with the backing of Stephen Baylis, The Man Behind The Curtain in Leeds, where he was chef-patron. He has gained a reputation for creative and often unusual dishes. These include chocolate pudding with potato foam, raw prawn tails with cooked prawn brains and a dessert with baked potato custard. In 2015, O'Hare took part in BBC2's ''

The 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 ...

'' where he made a dish entitled 'Emancipation' – a fish dish inspired by fish and chips served on a

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

. In 2016, O'Hare became Creative Director of GG Hospitality, a company created by ex-professional footballers

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; born 29 November 1973) is a Welsh football coach, former player and co-owner of Salford City. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, and one of the best wingers in the history of footba ...

and

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit, former coach and player, and co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. As a player, Neville was a right-back and spent his entire career with Manches ...

. The company, along with O'Hare, opened a 'space-age Asian' restaurant called The Rabbit in the Moon at the National Football Museum in Manchester on 3 January 2017. O'Hare was also due to set up a fine dining restaurant – The Man Who Fell To Earth, and a less formal restaurant called Are Friends Electric within a new Manchester hotel at the

Manchester Stock Exchange The Manchester Stock Exchange, later a branch of the Northern Stock Exchange, is now a Grade II listed hotel located at 2–6 Norfolk Street, Manchester, England. It was built at a cost of £86,000, between 1904 and 1906 by Bradshaw, Gass and ...

owned by GG Hospitality, but these did not open. In October 2023, O'Hare closed The Man Behind the Curtain and then reopened it as Psycho Sandbar opened in early 2024. It then re-closed permanently in October 2024. The company operating the restaurant was liquidated to pay off the restaurant's £1 million debt owed to twelve creditors, including at least £519,000 owed to

HM Revenue and Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a department of the UK government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of stat ...

and £366,818 owed to Relentless, a managing firm run by Neville until his resignation as a co-director in September 2024.

Media

O'Hare competed in BBC2's ''The Great British Menu'' in 2015. In 2016, he appeared on BBC's ''

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 ...

''. He also made guest appearances on BBC's ''

Saturday Kitchen ''Saturday Kitchen Live'' (formerly Saturday Kitchen) is a British food television programme typically broadcast on Saturday mornings between 10:00 and 11:30 on BBC One. It is also available on BBC iPlayer. It is currently hosted by Matt Tebb ...

'' and on ''Yes Chef'' in 2016 on

BBC One 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 channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. In 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024 and in 2025 he returned to ''The Great British Menu'' as a judge.

Personal life

O'Hare has one child. O'Hare has become well known for his individual personal style. He became instantly recognisable with his 'rockstar hair' after his appearance on ''The Great British Menu'' and says “I know for a fact there could have been TV shows off the back of that haircut.” He is a qualified pilot, gaining his licence in

Daytona Daytona may refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach, Florida * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Daytona, the region around Daytona Beach Motor racing * Dayto ...

a few years after leaving university.

Television

*''The Great British Menu'' – 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. *''Saturday Kitchen'' – 2015 *''Masterchef'' – 2016 *''Yes Chef'' – 2016

References

External links

Restaurant website
Themanbehindthecurtain.co.uk
Bio at BBC.co.ukInterview at Staff CanteenThe Rabbit in the Moon
Official website therabbitinthemoon.com {{DEFAULTSORT:OHare, Michael 1981 births Living people English male chefs English television chefs Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants