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Childhood Born June 30th 1972 James's childhood was heavily influenced by his grandmother, aunt and mother, all of whom were keen cooks. His father ran the catering side of Castle Howard, where the young James would run visitors up and down the lake in a little battery-powered boat. James and his sister - a year younger - were brought up in Coneysthorpe, in a North Yorkshire farmhouse. His love of fresh veg comes from his grandfather and his uncle who both had well stocked allotments. From age six James was to be found helping in kitchens. At age twelve he could boast that he had cooked for the Queen Mum. He still has the letter she wrote to thank him! Despite all this his career had a slightly shaky start when his home economics teacher at Malton School famously told him he would never ever make a chef. James has often revealed how wanting to be a chef in Yorkshire compared to Billy Elliot’s story. While other kids would be waiting for the school bus with their PE kits he would have a wicker basket full of Tupperware boxes. |
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Learning His Trade At age 16, minus his GCSE Cookery, James enrolled at Scarborough Tech, where he found an truly inspirational tutor and was Student of the Year for three years running. After his final exams both Brian Turner and AWT offered him positions. He chose to move to London and work for Antony at 190 Queensgate. James told one interviewer “ I ended up working like a nutcase - it was a 6am start, and then I’d work until 2am the next morning and start again at 6am, six days a week. I used to live eight miles away, so I’d end up sleeping on a bench.” Whilst working in London James also spent time in the kitchens of Marco Pierre White, alongside one Gordon Ramsay! After his baptism of fire in London James toured Italy and France for a year working in the chateaux kitchens of some of Europe’s grand old families, and travelled to Belgium to learn chocolate work. Returning to England he started as head pastry chef at Chewton Glen, the youngest one there and the only Brit amongst a large group of French chefs. Two years later he joined the Hotel and Bistro du Vin in Winchester, as head chef, where he changed the menu every day and sparked an eight week waiting list for a table on weekends. |
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Big Break James won his post as Head Chef against competition from other young talent around the country. We’re told it was his enthusiasm which distinguished him. Typical of his energy was his response to a request for sample dishes. Robin Hutson, one of the owners of the hotel, said at the time, “I asked him for a few ideas and he came up with 120 starters, 120 main courses and 80 desserts”. A full page article, heaping fulsome praise on James’s cooking, by Jonathan Meades, The Times restaurant critic, a few months after the Bistro opened, began to bring in customers from far beyond the local area. It was one of these customers that slipped James the business card that was to change his life. She was the owner of a production company and had come to the Bistro on a particularly busy evening to dine with Lloyd Grossman. After a reluctant James had given an interview and a two hour demo, in London, she hired him straight away. Then came Ready Steady Cook, Housecall, Deck Dates, Kitchen Invaders, and all the other programmes that we knew and loved. Delicious, Sweet and Yorkshire’s Finest followed, along with other programmes such as Too Many Cooks, plus spots as resident chef on three series of Castle in the Country and a new series - Stately Suppers. All this in tandem with a very full diary of personal appearances and demonstrations at food shows around the country. |
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Winchester Two years after starting his television career James had opened a deli, written his first cook-book, and swapped his tiny rented room for a three bedroom flat in the heart of the city. A kitchen design company, a range of kitchenware, a bistro on a cruise liner, more books, and moves to homes in a converted chapel and later a Victorian farmhouse were to follow. |
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Toys James has sometimes said that his philosophy in life could be ‘he who dies with the most toys wins’. Well, since television beckoned and he had earned enough to swap his old push bike for a bright red Ferrari he has certainly been busy collecting them. Among many others there’s the beautiful Gullwing Merc, the Aston, the Lotus and the ex F3000 cars. Although he can still occasionally be seen driving the Fiat 500. Then there’s the Harley and the Ducati. Not forgetting the Bladerunner, handy for crossing the channel in just over the hour, and the Jetski, great for roaring around the Solent! |
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Overnight Sensation When his TV break came along James traded years of hard graft and long hours earning a pittance as a chef for more years of hard graft and long hours making his way in a world of agents and contracts - more financial reward, but less control. His combination of talent, humour and good looks soon made him a firm favourite with the ‘lifestyle-TV’ viewing public, but it was his appearance on Strictly Come Dancing, in 2005, that brought him to the attention of prime-time Saturday evening audiences, and his battle through to the semi-finals that won him the hearts of a legion of fans. His success on the programme catapulted him to the top of the TV chefs league, put him on the pages of countless glossy magazines and brought a flurry of TV offers including two very successful cooking strands on Richard & Judy and appearances on Through the Keyhole, Petrol Heads, Vroom Vroom and School’s Out. When asked if he was a chef first or a TV personality, James replied “I started as a chef, and I’ll end as a chef. The bit in the middle is just the rollercoaster ride where you sit down and hang on tight …” In June 2006 James took over the helm of Saturday Kitchen, the BBC’s flag-ship cookery programme, where, with his new found confidence at handling live TV, he is bringing in record viewing figures. In Nov 2006 he presented a hugely successful fourth series for UKTV Food, from his new kitchen garden. |
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Where Next? Two new series, ‘Great British Village Show’ and ‘Sweet Baby James’, both with tie-in books, and another one, ‘Eating with the Enemy’, just being recorded. A ‘Saturday Kitchen’ Cookbook and a second Bistro, on Ocean Village 2. All this we know about, and of course there will be more demos, more cooking for private clients and charity dinners, more charity work and more involvement with teaching and encouraging young chefs. A new season in the veggie garden and more late night sessions in the kitchen, experimenting with ideas and developing recipes, with Fudge as chief taster. Then there are the dreams, the country restaurant and the cook-school. And the wish list for fans - James facing the omelette challenge, Digs Deep on terrestrial TV, DVDs of Yorkshire’s Finest & the Full Monty, a James Martin calendar and a glimpse of that Cosmo salad bowl. Or maybe a BBC series that will showcase his skills as a teacher, or his passion for art, there’s plenty still to explore for the talented Yorkshire chef with the smiling eyes, 37 inch inside leg and cheeky boyish humour who has said “I put a lot of trust in people, I will give them everything but I will expect the same back”. |
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The Story So Far! |
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