Scott Hallsworth (born 12 July 1975) is an Australian

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a k ...

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

and author. Hallsworth owns and is

executive chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilitie ...

of restaurants in London. Hallsworth founded and ran three Kurobuta restaurants located in the city's

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

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

and

Marble Arch The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is tod ...

areas until May 2017. Scott Hallsworth's flagship

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

izakaya An () is a type of informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks. are casual places for after-work drinking, similar to a pub, a Spanish tapas bar, or an American saloon or tavern. Etymology The word entered the English ...

was in Kurobuta Marble Arch. The original incarnation of Kurobuta London was located in Chelsea. In November 2015, Hallsworth opened his third Kurobuta, on the fifth floor of

Harvey Nichols Harvey Nichols is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831, at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections for men and women, fashion accessories, beauty products, fine wines and luxury f ...

's Knightsbridge location. In March 2015, Hallsworth opened Joe's Oriental Diner on the site of the original Kurobuta Chelsea pop-up at 251 King's Road, Chelsea. Hallsworth opened Kurochan at the Mandarin Oriental in

Bodrum Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient ...

, Turkey, in the summer of 2014. In 2015, he has been forced to turn off Kurobuta's neon signs saying “prostitutes available” and “sluts” in Japanese after angering women's rights campaigners and local Japanese journalists. Scott Hallsworth sold his Kurobuta restaurant group in June 2017 In July 2017 Hallsworth opened his pan-Asian Freakscene pop-up restaurant concept in Clerkenwell. In March 2018 Hallsworth opened a permanent Freakscene restaurant in London's West End at 54 Frith Street. in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

. In March 2023 Hallsworth will open a permanent Freak Scene restaurant in partnership with the Australian comedian, radio and television presenter

Adam Hills Adam Christopher Hills (born 10 July 1970) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show '' Spicks and Specks'' from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards, and the talk show '' Adam H ...

, in the Parsons Green area of London's Fulham at 28 Parsons Green Lane. in

Parsons Green Parsons Green is a mainly residential district in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The Green itself, which is roughly triangular, is bounded on two of its three sides by the New King's Road section of the King's Road, A308 road a ...

Early life

Hallsworth was born and raised in

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Man ...

, Western Australia. As a teenager Scott was an avid

cross country runner Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

and twice raced at national events where his highest placing was 6th. He also competed at state level track and field events and won silver medals for both

800m The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

and

1500m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

events. Influenced by his brothers Craig and Gary who were in Perth-based bands in the 1980s The Bamboos and Healers, Hallsworth formed several small

garage bands Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

while in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Career

Scott left high school when he was 16 to take up an offer of an apprenticeship with ex-La Gavroche sous chef Alain Doisneau. As an apprentice, Scott went on to compete in cooking competitions, during which his achievements included a Gold medal 3rd year apprentice at the Western Australian state competition which lead to inclusion on the Western Australian State cooking team. At national level, Hallsworth won Gold for his pastry and a Bronze award for his

buffet A buffet can be either a sideboard (a flat-topped piece of furniture with cupboards and drawers, used for storing crockery, glasses, and table linen) or a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners serve ...

work. Post-apprenticeship, Hallsworth moved to

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

where he worked for the Hyatt Hotel and the popular 44 King Street

Brasserie In France, Flanders, and the Francophone world, a brasserie () is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. The word ''brasserie'' is also French for "brewery" and, by extension, "the brew ...

. Following a 6-week road trip around Australia, Hallsworth decided to stay and work at Hayman Island Resort, situated on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

. Scott Hallsworth joined Nobu London in 2001 as a

Chef de Partie A chef de partie, station chef, or line cook is a chef in charge of a particular area of production in a restaurant. In large kitchens, each chef de partie might have several cooks or assistants. In most kitchens, however, the chef de partie is t ...

. Hallsworth spent six years at the Michelin starred

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from M ...

address where he became

Head Chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef i ...

. In 2007, Hallsworth moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, Australia to work on the opening of Nobu Melbourne. The following year, in 2008, Hallsworth moved to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

to help open Mirai restaurant. In 2009, Hallsworth opened his third restaurant in three years, Wabi in

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby ...

, West Sussex. In 2012, Hallsworth oversaw the opening of Wabi London. In 2013, Hallsworth created, devised and opened the Kurobuta concept.

Books and media

A book by Scott Hallsworth, ''The Japanese Foie Gras Project'' was published in 2007, and contains a foreword by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa. Scott Hallsworth's BBQ

pork belly Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless and fatty cut of meat from the belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in Hispanic, Chinese, Danish, Norwegian, Korean, Thai and Filipino cuisine. Regional dishes France In Alsatian ...

in steamed buns with spicy peanut soy appeared on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

cooking programme ''The Sunday Brunch'' with

Tim Lovejoy Timothy Paul Lovejoy (born 28 March 1968) is an English television presenter best known for hosting Saturday morning football programme ''Soccer AM'' with Helen Chamberlain for over a decade and ''BT Sports Panel'' on Saturday mornings on th ...

and

Simon Rimmer Simon Peter Rimmer (born 5 May 1963) is an English celebrity chef, best known for his on-screen partnership with Tim Lovejoy. Early life Simon Peter Rimmer was born on 5 May 1963 in Wallasey. Career Rimmer originally studied fashion and textil ...

on 11 May 2014.

Giles Coren Giles Robin Patrick Coren (born 29 July 1969) is a British columnist, food writer, and television and radio presenter. He has been a restaurant critic for ''The Times'' newspaper since 2002, and was named Food and Drink Writer of the Year at th ...

reviewed Kurobuta in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

on 7 June 2014, and awarded the restaurant nine out of ten for food A book by Scott Hallsworth, ''Junk Food Japan'' was published in 2017, and contains specially commissioned photography by David Loftus.

Awards

On 10 October 2014, Scott Hallsworth was awarded two AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence, 2014–2015. On 7 April 2015, Scott Hallsworth's Kurobuta restaurant was awarded the BMW Square Meal Award for Best New Restaurant.

Personal life

Hallsworth loves to cook at home and will BBQ in any weather. He has three children, Jack, Lily and William. He likes to

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

, play guitar,

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Ma ...

and travel.

Early life

Career

Books and media

Awards

Personal life

References

External links