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Glynn Purnell

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Glynn Purnell
Born (1975-01-04) 4 January 1975 (age 49)
Children3
Culinary career
Cooking styleModern British
Current restaurant(s)
  • Purnell's 1 Michelin star
    The Mount by Glynn Purnell
Previous restaurant(s)
  • Purnell's Bistro & Ginger's Bar
Television show(s)
  • Great British Menu
Award(s) won
  • Michelin star 1 Michelin star
Websitewww.purnellsrestaurant.com

Glynn Purnell (born 4 January 1975) is an English chef, restaurateur and television personality. Described by the Birmingham Post as "undoubtably the finest chef to hail from Chelmsley Wood",[1] he is the proprietor and Head Chef at Purnell's restaurant in Birmingham, England, which was awarded a Michelin star in January 2009.[2]

Early life

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Purnell was born in Chelmsley Wood, a large council estate in north Solihull. His dad worked in a factory his mum was a dinner lady.[3]

When he was young he would cook for his younger brother and sister, feeding them beans on toast with curry powder and chopped onions.[4] His first experience working in a kitchen was when he did work experience at the Metropole Hotel at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre at the age of 14, returning for a six-year apprenticeship when he left school.[4]

Career

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Chef

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Purnell's career in fine dining started in 1996 when he joined Andreas Antona at Simpsons restaurant – then based in Kenilworth, Warwickshire – as chef de partie.[5] While at Simpsons he worked on placements with other notable chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Gary Rhodes,[2] and at restaurants in Lyon, Montpellier and the Basque Country.[4] In 2002 he worked for six months as sous chef at Claude Bosi's Hibiscus restaurant in Ludlow, Shropshire.[2]

In 2003 Purnell was appointed to his first Head Chef role at Jessica's in Edgbaston, Birmingham, which was awarded the first Michelin star given to a Birmingham restaurant in 2005, and was also named English "Restaurant of the Year" by the AA the same year.[4]

Purnell left Jessica's in 2007 and opened his own restaurant, Purnell's in Cornwall Street, in Birmingham's city centre, which was also awarded a Michelin star in January 2009, and itself won the AA Restaurant of the Year award in September of the same year.[6] The restaurant also won the Square Meal Best Restaurant of the Year Award in 2012.[7]

In August 2010 it was announced that Purnell would be opening a second restaurant – The Asquith, an "ambitious, neighbourhood restaurant" – in the premises of the former Jessica's in Edgbaston.[8] In April 2011, The Asquith closed its doors due to a dispute with the buildings landlord.[9] In 2015 the building was converted into luxury apartments.[10]

Television

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Purnell is a regular presenter and chef on BBC show Saturday Kitchen. He has also appeared as judge on Come Dine With Me - Champion of Champions,[11] and featured on Secret Kitchen and Great British Menu.[12] In 2017, he helmed 40 episodes of My Kitchen Rules for its third series.[13]

Books

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Purnell has published several cookery books including Rib Ticklers and Choux-ins (2016) and Cracking Yolks & Pig Tales (2017). He has also published a children's book, The Magical Adventures of Whoops the Wonder Dog (2018).[14]

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References

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  1. ^ "Power 50 Profiles – No.14 Glynn Purnell", Birmingham Post, 30 June 2009, archived from the original on 24 December 2010, retrieved 25 August 2010
  2. ^ a b c Chefs – Glynn Purnell, BBC Food, retrieved 25 August 2010
  3. ^ Laws, Roz (4 November 2017). "10 things you might not know about Glynn Purnell". birminghammail. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d Harmer, Janet (18 May 2009), Glynn Purnell, Caterer Search, retrieved 25 August 2010
  5. ^ Binns, Richard (2004), D'Artagnan and The Three Musketeers (a Midlands culinary epic!) (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2012, retrieved 25 August 2010
  6. ^ McComb, Richard (29 September 2009), "Birmingham restaurant Purnell's named England's No.1 by the AA", Birmingham Post, archived from the original on 16 October 2009, retrieved 26 August 2010
  7. ^ Evans, Nicky (27 June 2012). "Purnell's wins BMW Square Meal Best UK Restaurant award 2012". Square Meal. Monomax Ltd. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  8. ^ McComb, Richard (5 August 2010), "Glynn Purnell and Jamie Oliver to open new restaurants in Birmingham", Birmingham Post, archived from the original on 24 August 2010, retrieved 27 August 2010
  9. ^ McComb, Richard (7 April 2011). "Glynn Purnell closes Edgbaston restaurant The Asquith after dispute with landlord". Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  10. ^ Jones, Alison (29 June 2015). "Former Michelin starred restaurant transformed into luxury apartments". Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Glynn Purnell lands starring role in TV Show". www.whatsonlive.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  12. ^ Richardson, Andy (14 August 2017). "Glynn Purnell: I do TV but I'm just a normal dude". www.expressandstar.com. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  13. ^ Bains, Sanjeeta (21 September 2016). "Glynn Purnell exclusively reveals his big TV secret". birminghammail. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  14. ^ "Michelin star chef Glynn Purnell writes children's book". www.whatsonlive.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2020.