Fergus Henderson

Fergus Henderson was born in London in 1963. He attended King Alfred School and as a son of two architects went on to train to follow in their footsteps. It was during this period that he started cooking seriously. Whilst studying at the Architectural Association, he took a job at Smith’s Restaurant in Covent Garden and thus began his career as a chef. Following on he worked occasional stints at The Globe in Notting Hill and eventually Fergus along with his wife Margot took over the dining room at The French House pub in Soho where they quickly earned a loyal following and critical praise. Fergus was introduced to Trevor Gulliver over supper and, having found the abandoned smoke house on the edge of the city district, along with the French House Dining Room's manager Jon Spiteri, the trio opened St. JOHN in 1994. Fergus received an MBE in 2005 for his services to gastronomy and was awarded his first Michelin Star in 2009 for his restaurant St. JOHN in Smithfield. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award in influential 50 Best list this year, 2014. Critical acclaim for Fergus's brand of simple cooking set in an architecturally pared-back setting followed and in the twenty one years since it opened, St. JOHN has won a large number of awards and high rankings in national and international listings. Fergus is widely recognized as one of the most influential figures in the modern restaurant scene. Fergus is also a published writer: Nose to Tail Eating - A Kind of British Cooking, first published in 1999 and re-published both in the UK and the US (as The Whole Beast) garnered much acclaim and won the Andre Simon award for food writing. A follow up book, Beyond Nose to Tail Eating was published in 2007 and The Complete Nose to Tail was launched in October 2012. As well as running both St. JOHN Bar and Restaurant in Smithfield, St. JOHN Bread and Wine in Spitalfields and St JOHN Maltby in Bermondsey, St JOHN has a Bakery supplying bread to St JOHN restaurants, to other restaurants and fine food establishments across London and the St JOHN Bakery Counter in Selfridges Food Hall. Fergus & Trevor also have a winery in the Minervois, France from where they produce their own critically acclaimed Boulevard Napoleon wines.