Marcus Wareing

Marcus Wareing (born 29 June 1970) is an English celebrity chef who was chef-owner of the one-Michelin-starred restaurant Marcus until its permanent closure in December 2023. Since 2014, Wareing has been a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals.

Early life Wareing was born in Southport, Merseyside, in 1970. His father was a fruit and potato merchant who had contracts with schools to provide their produce for school dinners.

At the age of 11 his first food-industry related job was with his father, he found he had a natural talent for cooking. He went on to attend Southport College, where he took a three-year City & Guilds course in catering.

Career Wareing first worked at the Savoy Hotel under chef Anton Edelmann in 1988 at the age of 18 where he was employed as a commis chef, before leaving in 1993 to join Albert Roux at Michelin starred Le Gavroche where he first met Gordon Ramsay. Stints at other restaurants in New York City, Amsterdam and at Gravetye Manor in Sussex followed. While he was at Aubergine in 1995, Wareing was awarded the title of Young Chef of the Year by the Restaurant Association. He gave Angela Hartnett her first job in a restaurant. which saw Ramsay quit Aubergine to open Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Wareing followed suit by leaving L'Oranger, forcing the restaurant into temporary closure. A–Z Restaurants commenced legal proceedings against the pair, and reopened L’Oranger with Wareing's former sous chef, Kamel Benamar, as the new head chef. The legal case ended in Ramsay and Wareing paying an out-of-court settlement to A–Z. Ramsay and Wareing worked together to open Pétrus in 1999, with Wareing becoming head chef and operating the restaurant on behalf of Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH), at 33 St James's Street, London. Wareing promptly regained the Michelin star he had previously held, with Pétrus being named as a one star restaurant seven months after opening. Wareing had previously complained of interference in the kitchen by GRH, and wanted to come out from under Ramsay's shadow, which when resolved resulted in Wareing stating in an interview for Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine that Ramsay left him bitter and conflicted; "half of me thinks he’s a sad bastard and the other half still adores him."

The legal dispute was resolved with Ramsay gaining the rights to the Pétrus name, and Wareing signing a non-disclosure agreement regarding the situation but continuing to open his restaurant Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley. Wareing remarked of the situation, "If I never speak to that guy again for the rest of my life, it wouldn't bother me one bit." was awarded a Michelin star in 2009, The new Pétrus was opened around the corner from the Berkeley Hotel at 1 Kinnerton Street, Knightsbridge. Ramsay later joked, that with Heston Blumenthal also opening his new restaurant, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, nearby, the three of them could "all have a fight in the street at four in the morning". The restaurant was named after the architect of the hotel, Sir George Gilbert Scott. Wareing believes in promoting good quality, seasonal British food in his menus, and using small suppliers.

After an extensive refurbishment in 2014, Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley reopened as Marcus. In 2014 Wareing opened Tredwells in Upper St Martin's Lane, Seven Dials, London, with Group Operations Director, Chantelle Nicholson, who also acquired the role of Chef Patron of Tredwells in June 2016. In August 2020, Chantelle and Wareing announced that Tredwells is now solely owned by Chantelle, and that he would have no further involvement. In 2021, Wareing announced the natural closure of The Gilbert Scott, after a successful 10-year lease. In September 2023, Wareing announced that his Michelin starred restaurant Marcus would close permanently at the end of the year. The restaurant’s last service took place on 26 December.

Television and other media Wareing was first featured on television in the Channel 4 1999 documentary series Boiling Point, during his time as Gordon Ramsay's sous chef. The 2000 follow-up documentary Beyond Boiling Point documents his move to Pétrus and the award of his first Michelin star. He was also selected as one of 13 chefs chosen to recreate Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper in 2003. The work was photographed by John Reardon, and features Wareing throwing a brie across into the air whilst standing in the place of Simon the Zealot from Leonardo's work. In 2006, Marcus Wareing and Simon Rimmer represented the North of England in the BBC television series Great British Menu. Wareing beat the Manchester-based chef to go on to the final round. In the final the public chose for him to cook his dessert of egg custard tart with Garibaldi biscuits for the Queen's 80th birthday banquet which was on 17 June 2006. He has criticised some shows in the past such as MasterChef, saying that it has inspired young chefs to chase fame on television and be lazy in the kitchen, although he has appeared on MasterChef, MasterChef: The Professionals and Celebrity MasterChef in the past.

Wareing succeeded Michel Roux Jr. on the seventh series of MasterChef: The Professionals after Roux, Jr.'s contract with the BBC was terminated for advertising potatoes.

Wareing has released nine cookbooks to date. Under his new publisher, HarperCollins he released Marcus at Home (2016), which spent five weeks in The Sunday Times top ten bestseller list (cookery books), and New Classics (2017). Marcus Everyday was released in 2019 and Marcus' Kitchen came out in 2021.

In 2021 Wareing partnered with Compass Group UK & Ireland. to offer Forward with Marcus Wareing – a culinary apprenticeship programme.

In 2022 Marcus Wareing's Tales from a Kitchen Garden aired on BBC Two. It featured Wareing's East Sussex smallholding, as he visited British producers, gardeners and farmers. A second series aired in 2023.

During December 2023, Marcus Wareing At Christmas; a ten-part festive cookery series aired on Food Network.

During March 2024, the BBC commissioned Marcus Wareing Simply Provence; which aired on BBC2 and BBC iPlayer during May 2024.

Personal life Wareing's brother Brian is a catering teacher. Marcus is married to Jane, with whom he has three children, Jake, Archie, and Jessie. He met Jane while working at Gravetye Manor, where he was second chef and she was on reception. After moving to London to work with Ramsay at Aubergine, Wareing kept the relationship going by commuting out to Sussex every Sunday. and in 2012 competed in a white-collar boxing charity event with other chefs and catering staff for the Hilton in the Community Foundation, having been an amateur boxer in his youth. Wareing has said his favourite cookbook is one by chef Daniel Humm at Eleven Madison Park in New York City.

Published works