Great British Menu 2012

On the 9th of April BBC2  GBM is back, I for one will be glued to every single episode, this show is guaranteed to have the ‘wow’ factor. Whilst painting chefs for ‘A Portrait of the Great Chefs Of Britain’ I have spent a great deal of time with many of the participating chefs and with out a doubt the line up this year is outstanding. Things to look forward to include Jason Athertons shoes…Jason will be judging the London chefs and I imagine he will have the same exacting standards that have masterminded the huge success of his restaurant Pollen Street Social. I painted him while he was still at Maze, shadowing service was like being in on a military operation- funnily enough Jason started out as a cook in the army and I suspect the order and discipline have stayed with him, that and his very shiny shoes.

The really exciting addition of Philip Howard to the line up shows how this show really has a high culinary pedigree and credibility. This two Michelin starred chef has been cooking at The Square for over twenty years and was presented with A Special Award at The Craft Guild of Chefs Awards last year. The great british public will not be so familiar with Phil, but I look forward to seeing that all change over the next few weeks.

Another 2 michelin starred chef (can you believe it!) in the line up is the brilliant Daniel Clifford from Midsummer House, absent from GBM for a while and his return is surely not to be missed. I will certainly be writing more on this programme and on both the judges and chefs. For now I will leave you with one last photo of the delightful Stephen Terry who will be competing in the Welsh heat, something tells me the chefs will have a great deal of fun and hard work coming their way.

Painting of Udaipur

Whilst I am working on my book I still have other projects on the go. I jumped at the chance to work with a property developer on a beautiful apartment in Belgravia. The problem he faced was the property for sale also included (optional) a vast painting in the main living area for £250 000! My mission, should I choose to take it, was to come up with an image that would work in that space and take on board proposed interior design. So the sale, minus painting went through and I set to work on some ideas. It was a dream job- big wall- my choice. I have long had a love affair with India and decided that  some crumbling old architecture would look good alongside all the modern polished marble, wood and glass of the proposed decor. So here it is finally in place, for a fraction of the price of the original!

Welcome

For the past forty years British food has been ascending into world class cuisine, no longer the culinary joke- some of the greatest
chefs in the world are working in Britain. Behind this meteoric rise is an army of dedicated and deeply talented chefs.

For the past 18 months I have been following the greatest chefs working in our country today with the end result being a book, provisionally
Titled ‘A Portrait of the Great Chefs of Britain’. At the time of writing I have painted 15 with a good deal more to go, I am excited to report 34 are onboard!

‘I could give pages of hyperbole on why and how I paint, to spare you I can succinctly say I am driven
by capturing the soul and the daily joy of working with that marvellous stuff that is oil paint.’  Henrietta Graham