Fergus Henderson

Fergus Henderson
Fergus Henderson at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, September 2009
Born	(1963-07-31) 31 July 1963 (age 53) London, England
Culinary career
Cooking style	British cuisine
Current restaurant(s) St John

Fergus Henderson, MBE (born 31 July 1963) is an English chef who founded the restaurant St John on St John Street in London. He is often noted for his use of offal and other neglected cuts of meat as a consequence of his philosophy of nose to tail eating. Following in the footsteps of his parents, Brian and Elizabeth Henderson, he trained as an architect at the Architectural Association in London. Most of his dishes are derived from traditional British cuisine and the wines are all French.

Chefs Anthony Bourdain and Mario Batali have both praised Henderson for his dishes, which optimise British food while making full use of the whole animal. A. A. Gill famously retracted his initial hostility to St John in the Sunday Times.

Fergus is married to fellow chef Margot Henderson; the couple have three children; Francis, Owen and Hector.

Henderson had no formal training in cooking, and has never worked under any other chef. In 1992 Henderson and his wife, Margot, opened the French House Dining Room at Soho's French House pub before he left to open the St. John restaurant in 1994. The menu at St. John changes daily, but almost always includes Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad. It was awarded a Michelin star in 2009.

In 2003 he opened St John Bread and Wine in Spitalfields, London. A second St John restaurant located within the hotel in Chinatown was awarded a Michelin star in 2009. This venue is no longer open.