Simon Hopkinson
| Simon Hopkinson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
5 June 1954 Bury, Lancashire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Chef, writer |
| Known for | Cooking |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
Simon Charles Hopkinson (born 5 June 1954) is an English food writer, critic and former chef. He is considered to be one of the best cookery writers working today. He published his first cookbook, Roast Chicken and Other Stories, in 1994.
Hopkinson was born in Greenmount, Bury, in 1954, the son of a dentist father and a mother who taught art at Bury Grammar School. At the age of eight he was awarded a chorister's scholarship to St John's College School in Cambridge. At 13 he moved to Trent College, near Nottingham.
Hopkinson started his career at the age of 17 in the kitchens of Le Normandie in Birtle, near Bury, Lancashire, under the supervision of Yves Champeau. Following on from this, in 1978 he became the youngest chef to acquire an Egon Ronay Guide star with his restaurant the Shed in Dinas in Pembrokeshire, West Wales.
He spent the next two and a half years as an Egon Ronay inspector. He returned to London, and, after a three-year stint as a private chef, he was installed at Hilaire, which opened in Old Brompton Road in 1983. A friendship with the Conrans led to the establishment of Bibendum in 1987, where he worked as chef and joint proprietor with Sir Terence Conran and the late Lord Paul Hamlyn.
Bibendum was created out of the abandoned Michelin House on Fulham Road, which served as Michelin's UK headquarters from 1911 to 1985. Inside the restaurant, Hopkinson continued his philosophy of well-judged simple cooking which he garnered from his influences Richard Olney, Jane Grigson and Elizabeth David.
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