Presenter biographies: S-U

As a child growing up in Kent, Mark was inspired to become a chef by Keith Floyd, and started pot-washing in a professional kitchen aged 13. By 16, he had progressed to running the grill. To fund himself through West Kent College, where he studied catering, he worked weekends and evenings in local restaurants.

Mark has worked for Gordon Ramsay since he started at London’s Aubergine in 1998. He then worked as a sous chef at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay for three years before opening Claridge’s for Gordon Ramsay, where he was head chef between 2001 and 2009.

In March 2007, Mark oversaw the opening of one of Gordon Ramsay’s new ventures, The Narrow. In September 2008, he appeared on BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen. He also does cookery demonstrations at the BBC Good Food Shows.

In 2009, Mark published Great British Pub Food, a book he co-wrote with Gordon Ramsay. The same year, Mark represented London and the south-east in series four of BBC Two’s Great British Menu.

Tony Singh is the chef-director of two Edinburgh restaurants: Oloroso and Tony's Table.

Before setting up Oloroso, Tony clocked up more than 15 years experience as a chef, working at Scottish establishments including The Balmoral Hotel, Martins Restaurant, The Royal Yacht Britannia and The Royal Scotsman train.

In 2000 he was awarded the title of ITV Chef of The Year.

Tony first appeared on BBC Two's Ready Steady Cook in June 2008 and appeared in Indian Food Made Easy in autumn 2008.

Nigel Slater may be considered a national trasure by many food fans, but it took a long time before this acclaimed cookery writer could be persuaded to transfer his skills to TV.

Born in Wolverhampton, Nigel began cooking at an early age. He worked in restaurants around the country from the age of 16. He then moved to London and became a recipe tester and a cook for food photography.

In 1988, he joined Marie Claire magazine as the food editor. By 1993, he was writing about food for the Observer's Life magazine and his first book, Real Fast Food, was published. Several more books followed, which helped to establish him as one of Britain's best-loved cookery writers. His most recent book is called Eating for England: The Delights and Eccentricities of the British at Table.

Nigel has been awarded numerous awards for his food-writing and won a Glenfiddich Award for his autobiography, Toast, in 2004.

Nigel presented the BBC Two programme, A Taste of My Life. In autumn 2009 he will appear in a new BBC Two programme, called Slater's Simple Suppers.

Delia Smith has shown the British public how to cook for more than 25 years and is one of the leading modern authorities on good basic cooking.

Delia's simple style of teaching has changed attitudes to cookery in the UK. Helped by a team of assistants, she prides herself on testing her recipes over and over again to make them easy to follow, simple and achievable. Anyone who follows a Delia recipe can do so with confidence, and her ability to increase the sales of ingredients by a simple mention is legendary.

So where did it all begin? Delia left school at 16 with no qualifications and worked as a trainee hairdresser. She then became a shop assistant and later worked at a travel agency. At the age of 21, some time spent washing up in a restaurant pointed her in the direction of food. She says it was when a boyfriend kept praising his former girlfriend's talents in the kitchen that she got fed up and started cooking seriously.

Studying English cookery books at the British Museum inspired her to try out recipes when cooking for family and friends. But not every dish she made was successful. Her mother recalls the Great Rice Pudding Disaster when she forgot to add an essential ingredient - sugar.

In 1969, Delia became cookery writer on The Mirror and later wrote for London's Evening Standard. One of her first TV experiences was as an assistant on a TV food advertisement. When someone dropped a pie just before filming began, she volunteered to make the replacement.

When she presented her first series for BBC One, cooking at home was declining as people were turning to takeaways, supermarkets and the novelty of ready-meals. Delia wanted to run basic TV cookery courses to revive enthusiasm for cooking at home. When her Cookery Course was broadcast, with accompanying books, it was an instant success.

Delia Smith's Summer Collection and her Winter Collection followed and, in 1998, her How to Cook series stripped cookery back to basics, placing importance on simple ingredients and teaching basic techniques.

When the media reported that she was giving up recipe-writing to concentrate on her great love, Norwich City Football Club, in January 2003, it caused a national debate. The reports of her retirement proved somewhat exaggerated. Delia presented a BBC Two series in spring 2008 in which she explained 'how to cheat' at cooking using ready-made food.

Clare decided to become a chef aged 15 and promptly started accumulating work experience in her school holidays, first at a restaurant in her local Bushmills, in Northern Ireland, where she began her love affair with food.

Clare moved to England to undertake a two-year chefs’ apprenticeship aged just 16. She then did a year’s stint at London’s Bibendum before becoming sous chef at St Enodoc Hotel in Cornwall. Later, she moved to Sydney and worked for a catering company, where she was promoted to head chef. Throughout her early career, she squeezed work experience placements into holidays and sabbaticals, working under chefs she admired, including Michael Caines, Heston Blumenthal, the Roux brothers and Alain Ducasse.

Clare joined Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London in 2002, aged 24, and became head chef in March 2007. She is known for her rigorous, uncompromising standards, her drive and her strong work ethic.

Clare is a fan of seasonal and local produce and her cooking style lets the flavours of the food speak for themselves.

In 2009, Clare represented Northern Ireland in the fourth series of the BBC Two’s Great British Menu, where she was determined to cook fun dishes made with top quality Irish produce.

James Sommerin is head chef at The Crown at Whitebrook, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Wales.

Having baked bread with his grandmother every Saturday as a child, James was determined to become a chef. His dad secured him his first Saturday job in a professional kitchen in the hope of dissuading his son from getting into the industry, but the job only served to convince James of his vocation.

Once qualified, James landed his fist chef job at a local hotel. After a five-year hiatus working in a hotel in Scotland, he returned to Wales - and his family - in 2000. At The Crown, he worked his way up from sous chef to head chef, a position he has held since 2003.

For James, simple ideas served imaginatively are the best. He is forward thinking in his cooking and takes pains to source his produce from quality local suppliers - and to let his customers know where their food has come from.

In 2009, James represented Wales in the fourth series of BBC Two’s Great British Menu.

Rick Stein OBE is the first TV chef everyone thinks of when it comes to seafood. But with his series Food Heroes, Rick has shown that he's equally passionate about the best of British produce whatever its provenance. In his most recent series French Odyssey, he also revealed a passion for the French way of life, especially the food culture.

Rick's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow clearly displays his philosophy - "Nothing is more joyful or exhilarating than fresh fish simply cooked."

But he didn't always harbour ambitions to be an award-winning chef. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, he spent a few years running a disco before buying a nightclub in Padstow.

Fortunately for us, the venture was not a success and Rick turned to food as a way out. He opened a restaurant that specialised in freshly caught local produce, supplied by the fishermen who had once frequented his club.

Rick has run the Seafood Restaurant for more than 25 years, seeing it grow from a seaside bistro to an award-winning restaurant with an international reputation. Since those early days, the Steins have added guest bedrooms, a Seafood Delicatessen, a gift shop and two smaller restaurants - St Petroc's Bistro and Rick Stein's Café. The most recent addition is the Padstow Seafood School overlooking the Camel estuary and a fish and chips takeaway.

He has been honoured for his cookery success with many awards, including the Glenfiddich Trophy for his outstanding contribution to widening the understanding and appreciation of excellent food and drink in Britain through his work as a chef, teacher, presenter and author.

His many TV programmes and books include Rick Stein's Taste of the Sea, Fruits of the Sea, Seafood Odyssey, Fresh Food, Seafood Lovers' Guide, Food Heroes, French Odyssey, Mediterranean Escapes and, most recently, Coast to Coast. His new series, Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey, starts in July 2009.

Although a professional chef, Rick bases most of his recipes on simple cooking so that they appeal to the way "most of us cook".

In January 2003, Rick was awarded an OBE for services to Cornish tourism. He's based in Padstow but spends several weeks each year in Sydney, Australia.

Born in the US to Japanese parents, Jun is now one of the most acclaimed chefs in Europe.

At the age of 19, Jun asked his father which restaurants he most rated in London. He then approached each of them to ask for a position as an apprentice. Over a period of ten years, he worked and trained at Le Gavroche, Chez Nico and Marco Pierre White's restaurant Harvey's, all in London. He later progressed to work at other Michelin-starred London restaurants, including The Capital, Chavot and Les Saveurs. He also worked under Marco Pierre White at both The Restaurant and The Oak Room.

In 2000 Jun took on his first role as head chef at Chives Restaurant in Fulham Road. In 2001, he was appointed head chef of QC restaurant. Jun is now executive chef at London's Pearl Restaurant.

Last year, Jun presented his first series on Channel 4, Cooking It, which saw him attempt to transform some of the UK's worst cooks into talented chefs by teaching them the tricks of the trade. Jun has also appeared on the BBC Two series Food Poker and on Saturday Kitchen. His first book, Simple to Sensational, was published in 2009.

The third of four brothers, James was brought up in Kent and was taught to cook by his mother. After finishing school he studied hotel management and then worked in the kitchens of several well-known restaurants, often with his older brother Chris. He worked his way up through the ranks until he was invited by the Roux brothers to move to the US and work in upstate New York, where he was chef de partie at the Lake Placid Lodge. Within four months he was promoted to junior sous chef, and then transferred to the prestigious Point.

On returning to England James worked for the two Michelin-starred restaurant Lettonie in Bath, for the respected chef Martin Blunos. He moved on to be head chef at Right on the Green in Kent. In 1999, aged 23, James and his brother Chris opened Tanners Restaurant in Plymouth.

James' television career began in 2001 when he and Chris made their first TV appearance. Shortly after that James was recommended by Ainsley Harriott to the Ready Steady Cook team and soon became a regular on the show.

James continues to appear on Saturday Kitchen. He was a regular chef on the BBC daytime series Step Up to the Plate in autumn 2008.

Matt Tebbutt was born in High Wycombe but moved to Wales when he was six months old and classifies himself as 'an honorary Welshman', having grown up in Newport.

He returned to Wales in 2001 after an absence of eight years and, with his wife Lisa, has transformed the former Foxhunter pub at Nantyderry into an acclaimed restaurant, winning AA Restaurant of the Year for Wales in 2004.

A passion for good food and cooking developed early for Matt, partly thanks to family holidays to France and Italy, but the decision to be a chef didn’t come until later in life. He studied geography at Oxford Brookes University and an early ambition to be a pilot led him to join the university air squadron. He eventually decided against a 12-year signing with the RAF and turned his attentions to becoming a chef.

Matt's culinary career began with a diploma from Leith's School of Food and Wine. He completed a traineeship with Marco Pierre White, then moved to the kitchens of Chez Bruce, followed by a stint at Clarke's, where he learned the art of bread-making. He also worked with Alastair Little.

Matt appeared in the second series of Great British Menu in spring 2007, the BBC Two series Food Poker in autumn 2007 and appears on Saturday Kitchen.

Stephen Terry is chef-proprietor of The Hardwick, a country pub-restaurant in Abergavenny, in Wales.

After two years studying catering at Barnfield College, Luton, at the age of 18 Stephen left home to learn his craft at several of London's top restaurants, including Marco Pierre White's first restaurant Harvey’s and Michel Roux's Le Gavroche. He then worked with Nick Nairn in Scotland before returning to London to open Canteen with Marco Pierre White and actor Michael Caine. It was here that he was awarded his first Michelin star, at the age of 25.

He then spent some time working in France, at the two Michelin-starred Les Roches near St Tropez and L'Arpège in Paris. When he was offered the opportunity to work as head chef at Oliver Peyton's restaurant Coast, in London's Mayfair, he returned once again to London.

After a period of travelling, Stephen was approached to purchase the Walnut Tree Inn in Abergavenny from Franco and Ann Taruschio. He opened the Walnut Tree restaurant in 2001 and won a Michelin star the following year. After leaving the Walnut Tree, he had another stint in London and at a pub in Wiltshire, before opening The Hardwick, where his menu is based around Welsh seasonal produce. The Hardwick was awarded an Editors Award for Best Use of Local Produce in the Which? Good Food Guide 2009.

Stephen cooked the winning fish course in the 2008 series of Great British Menu on BBC Two, representing Wales. In 2009, he represented Wales again in the fourth series of the programme.

Tony started cooking professionally at the age of 14 when he worked in the kitchens of a pub/restaurant in Warwickshire.

He soon became hooked on cooking and studied for two years at Stratford-upon-Avon Catering College followed by 18 months in the kitchens of The Chester Grosvenor. In 1984 he moved to London to join the brigade at the Capital Hotel under head chef Brian Turner.

This was followed by five years with Nico Ladenis. Tony started off at Chez Nico in London's Battersea and later became sous chef at Simply Nico in Westminster. When Ladenis opened Chez Nico in Great Portland Street, Tony stayed behind as head chef at Very Simply Nico for two-and-a-half years. At 25, Tony took over as head chef at the South Lodge Hotel in Lower Beeding, West Sussex. During the three-and-a-half years he spent there, the restaurant was awarded the Good Food Guide's County Restaurant of the Year in 1992.

At present, Tony is the chef proprietor of The Dining Room in Reigate, Surrey. He is also part of his campaign to inspire young people to enter into the catering industry.

Cyrus was born and brought up in Bombay. Despite his parents' fears, Cyrus decided to pursue a career in catering, graduating in hotel administration and food technology and rising to become corporate executive chef of the Taj Group in Goa.

Cyrus left India for Australia in 1991, but was persuaded to come to London to run the Namasté restaurant where he developed his trademark style of blending traditional Indian techniques and flavours with more unexpected ingredients.

Today, Cyrus is proprietor and executive chef of the Café Spice Namasté group (Café Spice Namasté and The Parsee). He is the author of Cafe Spice Namasté, now out of print. In 2005, he published another book, India, part of the International Cuisine series. He was also one of the team involved in the NHS Better Food Programme chaired by Loyd Grossman.

Cyrus is married and lives with his wife Pervin, who is general manager of Café Spice Namasté and a chef in her own right, and their two children in east London.

Cyrus regularly appears on a number of television and radio programmes including Saturday Kitchen.

In 2000, Cyrus was awarded an MBE for his commitment and expertise in the restaurant and catering industry.

Mitch's career has been driven by a passion to inspire others to enjoy seafood. Voted Tatler's Restaurateur of the Year in 2006, he continues to build on his success as restaurateur, food writer and chef.

Born in 1966 he spent the first 24 years of his life by the sea: sailing on it, skiing on it and fishing in it. After working as an accountant, he decided to fulfill his passion for seafood by opening a specialist fishmonger in Bath, which he expanded into a small nationwide chain of restaurants and cookery schools.

Mitch regularly appears at food festivals and has written three cookery books, one of which won a Gourmand World Award and another that was shortlisted for the prestigious André Simon award.

Television appearances include Fish Food - Mitch's own 13-part series with Carlton Food Network. Mitch regularly appears on Saturday Kitchen and is one of the chefs sharing his skills in BBC Food's new interactive video console, Get Cooking.

John Torode runs Smiths of Smithfield, a four-floor restaurant, private dining room and café, located near London's Smithfield market, and is a well-known food writer and TV presenter. John was the resident chef on ITV's This Morning with Richard and Judy for four years.

Australian-born, John joined the Conran Group in 1992 where he started out at Pont de La Tour before becoming the number two at Quaglino's. After two years at Quaglino's John became head chef at Mezzo, which was one of Europe's largest restaurants when it opened. John's next move was to Conran's Bluebird restaurant and food market.

John has been credited as one of the main players in introducing Australasian food to the UK in the mid-1990s and is an enthusiast of rare breed meat and organic food and farming. He has built relationships with many small farmers across the length of the UK who supply the very best of produce to Smith's. John passes on his knowledge through a fine meat list in the restaurants. John was part of the judging panel for the Glenfiddich Food & Drink awards in 2002 and regularly contributes to Olive magazine.

Along with Gregg Wallace, John is co-presenter of the MasterChef series on BBC Two, which encourages budding chefs.

Andrew Turner is executive head chef at Landau restaurant in the Langham Hotel in London.

After leaving catering college, Andrew started his training in France. Following his return to the UK, he went on to work with well-known chefs including Albert Roux and Anton Edelmann. Having learned from the masters, Andrew went on to develop the contemporary European 'grazing concept', which allows diners to sample up to ten smaller dishes rather than a traditional three-course meal.

He has won many awards, including Time Out Restaurant of the Year 2001 at the restaurant 1827 at Browns Hotel in London, Voyager restaurant of the year 2001-2004, and a 4-rosette AA rating.

Andrew has appeared on television programmes including Saturday Kitchen, Ainsley's Gourmet Express and Yes Chef and appeared in the BBC Two series Food Poker in autumn 2007.

Brian Turner's early mentor was the late food writer and broadcaster Michael Smith. The popular TV chef has worked at many prestigious restaurants, including Simpson's-in-the-Strand and Claridge's, in London.

Brian launched The Greenhouse restaurant in Mayfair (where both Gary Rhodes, Shaun Hill and Paul Merrett were chefs) and the Metro Wine Bar in Basil Street.

In 2002, Brian was awarded an OBE for his services to the catering industry.

Brian appeared regularly on Food and Drink and was resident chef for many years on Granada's This Morning. He's also presented his own TV series - Out to Lunch and Anything You Can Cook.

Brian is a regular on Ready Steady Cook.