Tom Kerridge: ‘Someone once described me as the Mitchell brother who has been kept in a loft'

Telegraph

09-08-2025

Tom Kerridge, 52, is a celebrity chef and TV presenter. In 2011 his pub, The Hand and Flowers in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, was the first in the country to receive two Michelin stars. Born in Salisbury and raised in Gloucestershire, Kerridge worked at several high-end restaurants in the 1990s, including under Gary Rhodes, before opening The Hand and Flowers in 2005. He is a judge on the BBC's Great British Menu. He has published 11 cookery books.
Best meal ever?
There's a couple of answers to this. In terms of the best singular meal I've had in a restaurant, it was the beginning of this year at Frantzén in Stockholm. It's a three Michelin-star restaurant in a beautiful converted townhouse. From the moment you walk in to the moment you leave [you'll have] some of the most amazing, brilliant food cooked in front of you, in an intimate surrounding. The food is outstanding. I had an amazing truffle toast dish, and a lot of it is cooked on an open fire.
However, the caveat is that one of the best meals I've ever had was at 4am in a back street in Singapore with a load of chefs sitting on plastic chairs, in 2013. I remember quite clearly a spicy aubergine dish that was exceptional.
Best childhood memory?
I come from a broken family. Childhood wasn't difficult, it was no different to anybody else I knew, and it didn't feel strange where I grew up. Mum didn't have much money, but we went on holiday to the Isle of Wight for a couple of years.
It wasn't a Butlin's, it was a budget version, but getting on the ferry gave me this sense of leaving, going overseas. We'd have ice-cream floats and I remember me and my brother, who is two years younger, playing a computer game called Out Run at the local arcade. I look back on it fondly.
Best celebrity encounter?
Meeting Lewis Hamilton. I'm a huge Formula 1 fan, and I have a colossal amount of respect for what he's done, to compete in a sport where financial clout makes a difference to who gets to the top.
From the background he came from, to make it through pure determination and raw talent. I was cooking at the Monaco Grand Prix, around 2018, and I was very fortunate to meet Hamilton at the Mercedes garage. I remember being all fanboyish.
It's the only time I've met someone and been lost for words. He was exceptionally nice about it. I met him the following summer at the British Grand Prix with my son.
Best thing about being in the kitchen?
It's the buzz, the energy. It's difficult to explain, but it's adrenalin-fuelled and has an excitement to it, there's a sense of jeopardy. The only analogy I can think of is that it's close to professional sport.
When you're a player, in the kitchen, doing all the cooking, it's like a sportsman on the field. As you get older, your knees don't work as much, your back's tired, you move up from being the player into coaching, as a head chef or restaurateur.
Best unhealthy food?
I'm a massive fan of pork scratchings. I don't think anybody would have them down as part of a healthy diet, but they'd work well if you're looking at low carbs. It definitely has to be a packet of Mr Porky. I'm a non-drinker now, so I'll probably have them with a coffee. I probably do have more than the recommended daily amount of caffeine.
What's the best advice you've ever had?
Always respect the ingredient and it will respect you back. Whether it's a beautiful piece of sea bass, beef fillet, tenderstem broccoli or peas, treat it with love and respect, and it will be beautiful. And it has always rung true.
Worst memory in the kitchen?
I remember moments, in the height of service, when things had gone wrong and things were being shouted, and you get pushed out of the way. In the early years of being in a kitchen, you've got to remember you can't take it personally. I do remember the extreme exhaustion.
In my early 20s I used to live in a flat with five guys. One worked in the West End and one evening some of the cast came back to our flat, they were having a party. I got in about 1.30am after work, and they said come and have a drink. I went straight to bed, got up around four hours later, and they were still there.
'Are you joining us?'
No, I'm going back to work. I remember seeing their faces: 'What on earth is this guy doing?' I probably worked on about four or five hours of sleep a night for 10 years. It takes its toll – I lost my hair.
Worst thing anyone's ever said to you?
I try not to take anything personally. Somebody tweeted me once and I kept it because it makes me laugh. It was after a TV show, and they said, 'Tom Kerridge looks like the Mitchell brother that's been kept in the loft'. As a mug-off I quite like that one. Anything that's shouty and sweary is just meaningless.
What's your worst habit?
I've got a short attention span. I get bored quite quickly. I'm easily led and have always got distracted. I used to be able to be in the kitchen and concentrate on doing two boxes of spinach quicker than anybody else. My world is quite jumbled now, I do TV, books, help with Marks & Spencer, we've got six restaurants.
There's so many different things that drop into my world, lots of chaotic questions, and I have to have a different hat on all the time. I find myself not giving 100 per cent or living in the moment.
Worst food?
I've got a shellfish allergy, which I hate, because I know what it tastes like, and it's amazing.
But I'm not a big fan of offal. I know I look like a chef that should be all about offal, liver and kidneys. I can cook them nicely, but it's just not my thing. I'd never order calves' liver over sea bass. I get it, I like the idea of using the whole animal, but I wouldn't order it. Kidneys are my least favourite – they taste of urine, let's be honest.
Worst moment of your career?
In retrospect, I would say the pandemic was pretty ropey. It wasn't great. We lost an awful lot of money, we had to shut our businesses.
Also, when we won two Michelin stars, a lot of people didn't understand what we were. They were comparing us to Le Manoir or The Ledbury, and we were a small pub on a main road with 15 tables, some stuck on a corner. Suddenly, we were in the eye of a storm, and a lot of people were quite happy to criticise us. You take the criticism and develop a thick skin. But the industry was very supportive.
The absolute worst?
Bath winning the rugby premiership. I'm from Gloucester and they're our arch rivals. I've got a couple of chef mates from Bath and they're always mugging me off about it.