Biography Chef

Born in High Wycombe in 1973, Matt Tebbutt moved to South Wales at the age of six months and quickly became an honorary Welshman.

After his early schooling in Wales, he studied Geography & Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University (Bsc Hons.)  Early aspirations to become a pilot led him to join the University Air Squadron, but having learnt to fly, his passions turned to food and he decided against a 12 year signing with the RAF in favour of a career as a chef.

Having completed a diploma course in London with Leith’s School of Food & Wine, Matt set his sights on some of the best restaurants in the UK, with a view to acquiring the breadth of experience that would set him up to run his own successful restaurant.

A true baptism of fire followed in the form of a traineeship with renowned Michelin starred chef, Marco Pierre White, working at The Oak Room and then The Criterion.  Matt later moved to the kitchens of Chez Bruce, working under the tutelage of Bruce Poole, master of classic French food and leading advocate of ‘affordable excellence’.

Working at ‘Clarke’s’, Sally Clarke’s Kensington restaurant, Matt was exposed to the art of bread-making at one of the most skilled bakeries in the UK.

One of his strongest influences, clearly evident in The Foxhunter menu, is Alastair Little. Pioneer of the non-stuffy, high-quality eatery and renowned for revolutionary freshness and flavour.  Matt worked with Alistair at his Lancaster Road and Soho restaurants, celebrated for its no-nonsense British cooking, with a Northern Italian twist.

Matt is a passionate exponent of Modern British cooking, using only the freshest, seasonal, locally-sourced ingredients within honest recipes designed to highlight those ingredients. Wild and foraged foods from sea-shore and hedgerow, have also become a permanent feature of The Foxhunter menu and the restaurant offers foraging excursions.

Matt’s first national TV appearance was competing against old friend and fellow chef, Bryn Williams in Great British Menu on BBC2. He can currently be seen on Good Food’s daily show Market Kitchen, co-presenting with Amanda Lamb, Tom Parker-Bowles and Matthew Fort.  He is also a guest presenter for Saturday Kitchen on BBC1. Matt has more recently appeared on Flora’s Family Food Fight – a new primetime Channel 5 series in which he helps families prepare and cook healthy meals.

His first solo cookbook Matt Tebbutt Cooks Country is out now, published by Mitchell Beazley and some of his favourite recipes can be found in The Gastropub Cookbook by Diana Henry, and the just published Yes Chef by James Winter. The Market Kitchen Cookbook featuring recipes from all the presenters is launched this spring 2010.

Matt is married to Lisa, another Monmouthshire local.  A lover of fine wine and good restaurants and with a background in accountancy, she manages the running of the business.  Matt & Lisa have two children, Jessie aged 8 and Henry, 6.

Updated 14/06/2010