Theo Randall (born 1967) is an English

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 ...

who specialises in

Italian cuisine Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp. 101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Ancient Roman cuisine, Roman times, and later spread ...

. He is the proprietor of Theo Randall at the InterContinental Hotel London Park Lane, although he is perhaps best known for being 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 ...

at The River Café in London.

Career

Randall's career began at Chez Max in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

, London, where he trained in classical cooking for four years. He joined the team at The River Café in 1989. After a year he moved to California to work at

Chez Panisse Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California, restaurant, known as one of the originators of California cuisine and the farm-to-table movement, opened and owned by Alice Waters. The restaurant emphasizes ingredients rather than technique and has de ...

under chef

Alice Waters Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, food writer, and author. In 1971, she opened Chez Panisse, a restaurant in Berkeley, California, famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for ...

for 12 months. He then returned to the UK where he spent fifteen years, ten of which were as Head Chef and silent partner back at The River Café where he gained his Michelin star. Randall has been called the "unsung hero" of the restaurant, and has been credited with creating The River Café's signature dishes and making it an establishment that "changed Britain's restaurant culture for good". He left The River Café to set up his own restaurant when a space became available at the InterContinental London. Theo Randall at the InterContinental London opened in February 2007 as part of a £60 million refurbishment of the hotel. In an interview he stated that he felt the need to prove to himself that he could do it. The new venture went on to be named "Italian Restaurant of the Year" at the London Restaurant Awards after it had been open for two years. He has collaborated with

Pizza Express PizzaExpress (Restaurants) Limited, trading as Pizza Express (also called Pizza Marzano or Milano), is a British multinational pizza restaurant chain. It has over 500 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 100 overseas in Europe, Hong Kong, ...

and created four pizzas for their autumn 2008 menu. It was the first time the chain had collaborated with a

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...

. Randall has also attended food festivals, including

Taste of London Taste Festivals is a company which runs a series of food festivals around the world. As of 2012, these have taken place in fifteen cities. The events typically have the prefix "Taste of", although the company also runs The World Restaurant Awards. T ...

held in

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

, and has been involved in the London Restaurant Festival. On television, he has frequently appeared 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 ...

'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 ...

''. In 2010, Randall started working with ASK Italian restaurants as their "expert friend", developing menus and coming up with new dishes. In June 2015, he became an investor in the Azzurri Group, which owns and runs the restaurant chain. In 2015 he partnered with Gousto to bring them recipes from his latest book.

Personal life

Randall is married to Natalie, and together they have two children, Max and Lola. Lola was a student at the Lycee Francais Charles de Gaulle. They have lived in the

Chalk Farm Chalk Farm is a small urban district of north west London, lying immediately north of Camden Town, in the London Borough of Camden. History Manor of Rugmere Chalk Farm was originally known as the Manor of Rugmere, an estate that was mentio ...

area of London since 2001 in a house that was built in the 1850s.

Bibliography

*''Pasta'' (2010) *''The ASK Italian Cookbook'' (2012) *''My Simple Italian'' (2015) *''The Italian Deli Cookbook'' (2022) *''The Italian Pantry'' (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randall, Theo 1967 births Living people British chefs People from Kingston upon Thames Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants