Simon Hopkinson

About

Simon Hopkinson is a food writer, critic and former chef.

He left school at 17 to work as a chef at Yves Champeau. The work made a lasting impression and developed his passion for French cooking.

Then for the next two and a half years he worked as an Egon Ronay inspector.

Simon burst onto the London restaurant scene in 1983, opening Hilaire and drawing attention as a leading young chef. Designer Terence Conran spotted his talent and then persuaded him to lead the kitchen for the opening of Bibendum in 1987.

Bibendum started out of the abandoned Michelin House on Fulham Road which served as Michelin’s headquarters from 1911 to 1985. And inside the restaurant Simon continued his philosophy of well-judged simple cooking which he garnered from his influences Richard Olney and Jane Grigson.

Food Writer

Simon left the restaurant in 1995 to concentrate on writing. Waitrose Food Illustrated declared Simon’s book, Roast Chicken and Other Stories, as the ‘most useful cookbook of all time’. The book won a Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award. Simon also wrote a cookery column for The Independent.

Simon Hopkinson has written several other titles since leaving Bibendum, such as Gammon and Spinach and Other Recipes, Second Helpings of Roast Chicken, The Vegetarian Option, and Liver and Kidneys.

In June 2011 Hopkinson presented his show The Good Cook on the BBC.

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