Presenter biographies: D-F

Many chefs have had colourful lives but few can match Gino D'Acampo's. Born into a poor Neapolitan family, he has cooked in France, Spain and the UK, cooked for Pavarotti and has now forged a successful career in TV.

Gino caught the cooking bug from his grandfather (a head chef in Naples) and entered the Luigi de Medici Catering College at the age of 15, where each summer he was sent to different kitchens across Europe to gain experience.

He came to England where he capitalised on the incredible growth in prepared foods by joining a major Italian food supplier.

His knowledge of olive oil led to a first TV appearance and soon after he appeared on Good Foof Channel's Great Food Live and had guest slots on BBC One's Saturday Kitchen. He is now a regular on BBC's Ready Steady Cook and was a regular chef on the BBC daytime series Step Up to the Plate in autumn 2008.

Gino lives in north London with his wife Jessica and son Luciano. Gino is the author of two cookery books: Fantastico! and Buonissimo!

Garrey has many years' experience in the catering industry. After finding his feet at Pennyhill Park Hotel and Spa in Surrey, and exploring his passion for cooking at the famed Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, Garrey joined the team at The Fat Duck in Bray in 1996, where he worked with the incomparable Heston Blumenthal.

Garrey is now head chef and part-owner at Riverside Brasserie in Bray, which was formerly owned by Heston Blumenthal. Garrey appears regularly on BBC Two's Ready Steady Cook.

Clarissa Dickson-Wright was no stranger to good food as a child. She was born into a home where eating caviar and pheasant-shooting were the norm and pigeons were flown in from Cairo for supper.

Her father was a respected surgeon, but also a violent alcoholic. When Clarissa won a place at Oxford, he refused to subsidise her unless she read medicine. So she went to University College London to study law and was called to the bar aged 21.

She practised successfully as a barrister for several years, before settling on cooking as her true calling. She ran her own catering business, cooked on a yacht in the Caribbean and served 60 meals a day at her London luncheon club.

Her 12-year bout of alcoholism, triggered by the death of her mother in 1978, has been well documented. She eventually turned to Alcoholics Anonymous and, while in a halfway house, she started working at Books for Cooks in Notting Hill, London.

Along the way, she also became one of only two women in England to become a guild butcher. She is also the first woman to be rector at the University of Aberdeen.

She rode into fame in the sidecar of Jennifer Paterson's motorcycle in the TV series Two Fat Ladies and she was often seen as the slightly saner sidekick.

However, Clarissa refused to make another series of Two Fat Ladies after her co-star's death in 1998. In another TV project - Clarissa and the Countryman - she joined her lifelong friend, sheep farmer Sir Johnny Scott, to pay homage to rural Britain, and shared her passion for field sports and traditional country activities.

There's no denying she's a survivor, and her ability to talk on almost any subject along with her down-to-earth philosophy and straight-forwardness makes her a natural star. It's unlikely we'll see her cooking on our screens again, but she has published six books on food and cookery, and it's a sure thing that food will always be part of her life.

Kevin Dundon studied at Dublin College of Catering. After graduating in 1986, he spent time working in Switzerland and Canada, as well as a stint onboard a cruise ship. He has cooked for many well-known people during his career including Her Majesty the Queen, the former US president George W Bush and U2's Bono. In 1994, Kevin was head-hunted back to Ireland to take up the role of executive head chef of the Shelbourne hotel in Dublin.

Kevin is now the chef/proprietor of Dunbrody Country House Hotel and Restaurant in County Wexford, Ireland, where he also runs a cookery school.

Kevin has made numerous TV and radio appearances in Ireland and the US. In autumn 2002 he featured as expert chef on the Ask Anna series on RTE. Kevin has appeared several times on Good Food Channel's Great Food Live, BBC One's Saturday Kitchen and The Today Programme. Kevin appeared in the BBC Two series Food Poker in autumn 2007.

Jill Dupleix was born on a sheep farm in Victoria, Australia, and worked as an advertising copywriter for eight years before combining her two great loves - writing and food.

She was the food editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Melbourne Age for six years, from 1994 to 2000, when she was offered the job of The Times Cook with The Times in London. Less than 18 months later, Jill was named Cookery Writer of The Year by The British Guild of Food Writers. She continued writing for the Times for the next six years.

Jill has written several cookery books, including Simple Food (2002), New Food (1993) and its sequel Old Food (1998) and Very Simple Food (2003). Her latest book, called Lighten Up, was published in 2007. Multi-talented Jill also shoots her own food photographs.

Jill has also written several books with her husband Terry Durack, restaurant critic for the Independent on Sunday. Notably the pair have authored two CD/cookery book compilations - Allegro Al Dente and Hot Food Cool Jazz. Terry and Jill also edited the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide for six years. Jill makes regular appearances on TV and radio and has been invited as guest chef to hotels and food seminars around the world - from Melbourne's Masterclass to London's Covent Garden.

She has also contributed to Food & Travel magazine (UK), BBC Good Food magazine (UK) and delicious magazine (Australia). Jill and Terry lived in London's Notting Hill for several years, though the pair recently moved back to Sydney where Jill will return to writing food columns for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Melbourne Age.

As maître chef des cuisines at the Savoy hotel for 21 years, from 1982 to 2003, German-born Anton Edelmann followed in the tradition of the great Auguste Escoffier.

After serving an apprenticeship in a small Bavarian village near Munich, Anton got his first professional job at the Savoy as a commis saucier. He later moved back to Germany, then to Geneva before returning to London to work under Anton Mosimann at another of London's great hotels - The Dorchester.

After proving his talents at London's Grosvenor House, he was offered the grand job at the Savoy, running the River Restaurant, eight private dining rooms and three banquet rooms. His cooking is modern international, with English classics and a strong French influence. While he was at the Savoy, a young Giorgio Locatelli was one of his protégés.

In 2003, he left the Savoy to become principal chef at the Directors' Table, the fine dining division of catering company Sodexho, a role he held for four years. He has written several books, including Taking Tea at the Savoy and Perfect Pastries. He has also won the Chef of the Year award from Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine and made numerous appearances on TV.

For as long as she can remember, Maria, inspired by cooking in her Greek Cypriot father's restaurant, wanted to be a chef.

After a rigorous apprenticeship in some of London's leading kitchens, Maria took positions in a wide range of restaurants in the UK and abroad, as well as onboard a private yacht, sailing around the world.

Through travelling, Maria has become familiar with many cultures and their food. She has spent time cooking at El Bulli and Arzak restaurants in Spain and The Oriental Cooking School in Bangkok. She has also taught at the Authentic Ethnic Cooking School in London. These experiences were invaluable for Maria's role at London's Delfina restaurant, where she was head chef for ten years, and in her present role of head chef at London's Whitechapel Gallery Dining Room.

Maria has contributed to Food and Travel, Olive and Waitrose Food Illustrated magazines and appears regularly on Good Food Channel's Great Food Live. She appeared in the BBC Two series Food Poker in autumn 2007. Her first book, The Modern Vegetarian, was published in 2009.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has become known for his earthy, back-to-basics approach to cooking.

At the Glenfiddich Food & Drink Awards in May 2002, Hugh was awarded the Glenfiddich Trophy for his outstanding contribution to widening the understanding and appreciation of excellent food and drink in Britain, and for his ambition to alter people's perception of food. His River Cottage Cookbook won the best food book award that year too.

Born in London, but raised in Gloucestershire, Hugh has been keen on cookery since he was a child. He didn't train professionally, but instead studied at Oxford and travelled to Africa to do conservation work. When he returned to England, he joined the River Café in London, where he worked for a bit as a sous chef. He writes a regular cookery column for The Guardian newspaper and is the author of a number of well regarded books on food, with a focus on food ethics.

Hugh has become a familiar face on TV with his series Cook on the Wild Side and TV Dinners. In 1997, he found River Cottage in Dorset which led to four TV series being filmed there. He is also a keen supporter of the organic movement and investigated the ethics of intensive chicken farming in Channel 4's Hugh's Chicken Run in early 2008. Hugh was named the BBC's Food Personality of the Year in BBC Radio 4's 2008 Food and Farming Awards.

Liverpool-born Anthony has been head chef at Anthony's Restaurant in Leeds since March 2004. His passion is for modern British food and in pushing as many culinary boundaries as he can.

Anthony began his professional career at Huddersfield Technical College. On completion of his studies, he worked at the Michelin-starred restaurant Lords of the Manor, in Gloucestershire, for two years. He then moved to Barcelona to broaden his culinary knowledge, working alongside Xavier Pellicer at the Michelin-starred Abac restaurant. From here he moved on to the world-famous El Bullì restaurant, where he worked for two years with respected chef Ferran Adrià.

He has now brought his knowledge and experience back to Leeds. Anthony’s Restaurant opened its doors in March 2004 to critical acclaim, and the team have since opened another three venues: Anthony's at Flannels, Anthony's Patisserie and The Piazza by Anthony.

Anthony appeared in the 2008 series of Great British Menu on BBC Two, representing the North.

Richard is a chef, broadcaster and writer with 25 years of experience in the bar and catering industry. With a flamboyant presentation style and passion for cooking, Richard is a pioneer in raising the profile of beer and food. In March 2007 he held a gourmet beer dinner at The British Ambassador's residence in Paris.

His interest in local seasonal produce and his extensive knowledge of the gastronomic qualities of beer have led to regular appearances on Good Food Channel, Sky TV and local radio, as well as talking, demonstrating and presenting at events.

Richard's Food and Beer Cookbook was published in 2006. Richard appeared in the BBC Two series Food Poker in autumn 2007.

Born in Somerset in 1943, Keith has to date written more than 25 books and presented about 20 television series, all of which have captured viewers with his special brand of humour.

After leaving Somerset, Floyd set off to become a journalist in Bristol, but soon after watching the film 'Zulu', decided he wanted to join the army. He became a 2nd lieutenant in the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment in Germany. It was during this time in the army that Floyd began to experiment with food, after persuading the officer's mess cook to let him do so, and served up for the officer's mess table 'Gigot d'agneau Romarin' - a far cry from the usual roast lamb and two veg affair.

Soon after leaving the army he worked behind the scenes in restaurants in London and France, as a barman, dishwasher, vegetable peeler and more. By 1971, Floyd owned three restaurants which he eventually sold, leaving them behind for two years while he sailed the Mediterranean seas with two friends on a boat named 'Flirty'.

In France, he exported wine to the UK before opening a restaurant near Avignon. In 1991 he bought Floyd's Inn in Tuckenhay, Devon, which he sold in 1996 before moving to Kinsale in Ireland. Floyd made another move just one year later, to Marbella in Spain, and another in 2000 to the south of France, where he now resides. Floyd is involved with several restaurants in Thailand.

It was thanks to a chance meeting in 1984 with a television producer in his Bristol bistro that led to his first television programme - Floyd on Fish, which was just ten minutes long. Shortly after, the BBC rang and offered him his first seven-part series of the same name. The series that followed on from that first remain classics of the genre.

Born and raised in Derby to a large Italian family, Silvana Franco enjoyed home-cooked food throughout her childhood. She trained as a chef at High Peak College in Buxton and then went on to finish her studies with a degree in Home Economy at Southbank University.

Silvana got a college work placement at BBC Worldwide writing for BBC Vegetarian Good Food magazine. She soon progressed to senior writer on its sister title, BBC Good Food, and later moved on to work as Food Editor for M&S Magazine before moving into the world of TV.

She began behind the scenes, working as a food stylist and writer on Can't Cook, Won't Cook, Ainsley's Meals in Minutes, Ainsley's Big Cook Out, Gourmet Express and Friends for Dinner. Silvana's engaging personality soon attracted television producers and she started to appear on-screen, working alongside Ainsley as his sidekick in Gourmet Express 2, and featuring on BBC programmes Saturday Kitchen and Ready Steady Cook. In 2002 she moved into prime time as a presenter of The Best on BBC Two.

She also runs a food media company called Fork with two former work colleagues. Silvana is the author of several cookery books. In 1998 she worked on Can't Cook, Won't Cook Leaves Home for BBC Books, and in 2001 and 2002 she published two books - Pizza and Pasta, for Ryland Peters & Small. Her most recent books are The Hi Lo Cookbook (2005) and The Really Useful Ultimate Student Cookbook (2007).