Alexis Soyer

Born in France in 1810, Alexis Benoit Soyer moved to England and in 1837 took the position of chef de cuisine at London’s Reform Club. He was a hugely creative chef and his kitchens became so famous that they were open for conducted tours. But it wasn’t just his food that caused a stir. During the Irish Potato Famine, Soyer travelled to Dublin to set up the first ever soup kitchen; by the early 1850s, he was touring the country to promote his ‘magic stove’ and recipe books; and in 1855, Soyer travelled to the battlefields of the Crimea with cooking facilities specially designed to help alleviate the horrific conditions faced by British soldiers. A culinary innovator, as well as social philanthropist, many of Soyer’s best-known dishes are still on the Reform Club menu today. The most celebrated chef in Victorian England, Soyer could truly be called ‘the father at modern cookery’.