Tom Kerridge

Tom Kerridge is the incredibly popular and loveable chef patron at the extraordinary two Michelin-starred The Hand & Flowers pub in Marlow, which he opened with wife Beth in 2005. It was quite a moment for Michelin when the second star was awarded, and some say quite controversial.  The world’s culinary press descended on Marlow following the announcement and discovered a special venue, team and chef there.   

Tom is a great character with amazing presence, obvious warmth and an infectious laugh, so it wasn’t a surprise when Tom landed his own TV show. The brilliantly popular BBC2 series Proper Pub Food became a huge overnight success with excellent ratings with Tom’s fan base growing weekly as the 6 part series went on. Accompanying the show Tom wrote his first book of the same title which fast became a best seller. In 2014, Tom presented his second series, Best Ever Dishes which again proved extremely popular, along with his bestselling book of the same title.

In 2016, Tom presented BBC2’s new series Bake Off Crème De La Crème which saw some of the country’s top pastry chefs compete, creating elaborate pastries and desserts. Tom was also part of the team on BBC2’s The Food Detectives, helping people improve their cooking skills. Most recently, Tom co-presented a four part BBC2 Series with Cherry Healey about The Best of British Takeaways.  

In 2014, Tom took on the challenge of opening another restaurant, The Coach, which is also in Marlow. The Coach is a relaxed modern pub, open all day, every day serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and pub snacks. The Coach has a no reservations policy and has enabled more visitors than ever to taste Tom’s incredible take on traditional pub food.

Tom also hosted BBC2’s flagship cookery show Food and Drink. Tom cooked alongside other TV heavyweight chefs, championing seasonable produce and creating dishes accessible to everyone at home every Friday night on BBC2. In 2015, Tom’s book, Toms Table was published and topped the best seller charts. It also inspired a special pop-up ‘Toms Table’ restaurant at Harrods Food Hall which saw Tom cooking dishes from the new book as well as favourites from both his restaurants, the pop-up sold out and was a huge success.

Tom’s latest book, Tom Kerridge’s Dopamine Diet has been his best-selling book to date, upon it’s release it soared to No.1 across all Hardback non-fiction books and has remained a best-selling title ever since. The book is filled with recipes that helped Tom to lose an incredible 11 stone! The recipes feature ingredients that trigger the release of the ‘happy hormone’ dopamine in your brain, so it’s a diet that will make you feel good! By ditching alcohol and starchy carbs in favour of plenty of protein, fresh fruit and veg, you will be eating meals that will help you shed the weight, whilst offering a satisfying intensity of flavour.

Prior to having his own show, Tom appeared on shows such as Market Kitchen, MasterChef the Professionals, Saturday Kitchen and has competed and won the main course twice on BBC2’s Great British Menu. No-one else has ever won twice!

Tom’s first catering job was a stint as commis chef at Calcot Manor in Gloucestershire. He also worked for Stephen Bull and Gary Rhodes before joining Odette’s in Primrose Hill. After a spell at Monsieur Max in Hampton he moved to Norwich to take over running the Michelin starred restaurant Adlards. He then decided it was time to find his own place taking over a run-down pub in Marlow called The Hand and Flowers. The rest is history…