Marco Pierre White

Marco Pierre White (born 11 December 1961) is an English chef, restaurateur and television personality. In 1995, he became the youngest chef to earn three Michelin stars. He has trained chefs including Mario Batali, Shannon Bennett, Gordon Ramsay, Curtis Stone, Jameson Stocks, Phil Howard and Stephen Terry. He has been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" and the enfant terrible of the British restaurant scene.

Marco Pierre White was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, on 11 December 1961, the third of four sons to Maria-Rosa Gallina, an Italian immigrant from Veneto, and Frank White, a chef. When Marco was six his mother died from a cerebral haemorrhage caused by complications from the birth of his younger brother. He left Allerton High School in Leeds without any qualifications and decided to train as a chef like his father.

White first trained at Hotel St George in Harrogate and then at the Box Tree in Ilkley. In 1981 he moved to London with, he claimed, "£7.36, a box of books, and a bag of clothes", and began his classical training as a commis with Albert and Michel Roux at Le Gavroche. He continued his training under Pierre Koffman at La Tante Claire, moving to work in the kitchen of Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir, and later with Nico Ladenis of Chez Nico at Ninety Park Lane. He then branched out on his own, working in the kitchen at the Six Bells public house in the Kings Road with Mario Batali as an assistant.

In 1987 White opened Harveys in Wandsworth Common, London, where he won his first Michelin star almost immediately, and his second a year later. He also won the Newcomer Award at the 1987 The Catey Awards, run by The Caterer magazine.

White's protégés who worked at Harveys include Gordon Ramsay, Phil Howard, Stephen Terry and Éric Chavot.

He later became chef-patron of The Restaurant Marco Pierre White in the dining room at the former Hyde Park Hotel, where he became the youngest chef to achieve three Michelin stars. He then moved to the Oak Room at the Le Méridien Piccadilly Hotel.

Although White worked for seventeen years to pursue his ambition, he ultimately found that, in spite of his accomplishments, recognition and fame, his career did not provide him with adequate returns in his personal life. As a result, in 1999, he retired and returned his Michelin stars.

I was being judged by people who had less knowledge than me, so what was it truly worth? I gave Michelin inspectors too much respect, and I belittled myself. I had three options: I could be a prisoner of my world and continue to work six days a week, I could live a lie and charge high prices and not be behind the stove or I could give my stars back, spend time with my children and re-invent myself.