About The Naked Chef

the naked chef

While I was working at the River Café a TV crew were filming a documentary about the restaurant. The editors decided to show a lot of this cheeky kid who was so into the cooking that he'd answer back to the crew. The day after the programme was shown, I got calls from five production companies all wanting to talk about a possible show. I couldn't believe it and thought it was my mates winding me up!

In the end, I accepted an offer from Optomen Television. The idea behind The Naked Chef was to strip food down to its bare essentials - to prove that you didn't need to dress up ingredients or buy a load of fancy gadgets to make something really tasty. Despite my Nan's worries, it definitely didn't mean that I was cooking in the nude!

This show was packed full of sociable food to be enjoyed at home with family and friends – real food for real occasions.

• 6 x 30 minute episodes plus a Christmas party special
• first aired: UK, BBC2, 1999