Brian Turner’s career has moved between professional kitchens, restaurants, cookery teaching and television. A chef from Halifax, he trained and worked in several prominent kitchens before opening restaurants of his own. From 1994, his appearances on BBC2’s Ready Steady Cook brought him to a much wider audience, while programmes including This Morning and Saturday Kitchen extended his presence on screen.

Training in kitchens and restaurants

Turner was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, on 7 May 1946. His early career included training at the Savoy Grill and Simpson’s in the Strand, where he worked under Richard Shepherd, as well as at the Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne. He later returned to Britain to work at Claridge’s. The range of these kitchens took him from London hotels and restaurants to an established Swiss hotel before he began a longer association with the Capital Hotel.

Turner joined the Capital in 1971. He and Shepherd earned the hotel a Michelin star. In 1973, Turner spent a period working as a chef lecturer; in 1975, after Shepherd left, he took over as chef de cuisine. His work there was part of a wider professional network: Gary Rhodes and Shaun Hill were among the chefs who worked with him at the Capital. Turner went on to launch the Greenhouse Restaurant and the Metro Wine Bar.

In 1986, he opened Turner’s, his own restaurant in Walton Street, Knightsbridge. He ran it until it was sold in 2001. Further restaurant ventures followed: Brian Turner’s Restaurant opened at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Birmingham’s NEC in February 2002, and Brian Turner Mayfair launched at the Millennium Hotel in London the following year. Turner’s Grill opened at the Copthorne Hotel Slough-Windsor in January 2005. Brian Turner Mayfair closed in July 2008.

Cooking on television

Turner became a familiar television cook through his work on This Morning, where he was resident chef for many years, and as a regular guest on BBC2’s Ready Steady Cook, which he joined in 1994. The programme put cooks to work with ingredients and a time limit, making the practical decisions of the kitchen part of the entertainment. Turner also presented his own BBC series, Anything You Can Cook, and appeared on Saturday Kitchen.

His later television work included A Taste of Britain with Janet Street-Porter in 2014 and Life on a Plate in 2015. He appeared on James Martin’s Saturday Morning in 2021 and returned as a guest on 14 January 2023. During that appearance, Turner said that he had suffered a stroke in June 2022 and thanked the London hospital that treated him. He also explained that he now stammered intermittently. The broadcast gave viewers an account of the health difficulty in his own words, rather than presenting his return simply as another television appearance.

Cookery books were another part of Turner’s public work. One title associated with him is Brian Turner’s Favourite British Recipes, which places familiar British dishes at the centre of his work for home cooks. His repertoire has also been associated with dishes such as beef Wellington, Lancashire hotpot and toad in the hole, alongside devilled kidneys, pickled pig’s trotters and black pudding. These examples reflect the emphasis on traditional cooking described in accounts of his career, including attention to ingredients and dishes beyond restaurant fashion.

Restaurants, teaching and recognition

Turner’s work has extended beyond cooking for diners and television audiences. Early in his career he spent time as a chef lecturer, and he has been recognised for his contribution to catering education and training. He served as chairman of the Academy of Culinary Arts for nine years and as chairman of the UK Hospitality Skills Board. Thames Valley University awarded him an honorary professorship for his work and commitment to its London School of Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure and to catering education more generally.

In 1997, Turner received the Craft Guild of Chefs’ Special Award for achievement in the industry, the Caterer Catey Award for Chef of the Year and the Wedgwood Award for services to the hospitality industry. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2002 for services to tourism and training in the catering industry. Further recognition came through honorary doctorates: Leeds Metropolitan University awarded one in 2006 for services to hospitality and catering, and Sheffield Hallam University followed in 2008 for services to catering. Turner had studied at Leeds College of Food Technology, a predecessor of Leeds Metropolitan University.

His career also included work outside the conventional restaurant and television roles. He opened and ran businesses under his own name, and in 2003 invented a snack food called the Brian Turner S & C. He has also worked as a consultant chef at Vivat Bacchus, a South African wine bar and restaurant. These varied roles show a professional life built not around a single restaurant or programme but across different parts of the food industry.

Why Brian Turner deserves a place in British Legacy

Brian Turner’s place in British Legacy rests on the breadth of a career grounded in British catering. He trained in established kitchens, worked at the Capital Hotel when it earned a Michelin star with Richard Shepherd, and went on to open restaurants in London, Birmingham and Slough. His story connects the daily discipline of professional kitchens with the running of restaurants and the practical work of teaching. Recognition for services to tourism, catering training and hospitality reflects that wider contribution, rather than only his television visibility.

Television made Turner’s cooking familiar to audiences who might never visit a hotel kitchen or restaurant. As a regular on Ready Steady Cook and This Morning, and through later appearances on Saturday Kitchen and other programmes, he helped make cooking a subject for everyday viewing. His cookery writing and association with traditional British recipes further linked that public profile to food at home. The significance is specific: Turner’s career carried professional cooking into television and education, while keeping restaurants and catering at its centre. His long record across those settings offers a useful account of how a British chef could work as cook, restaurateur, teacher and broadcaster.

Sources

Brian Turner (chef), revision 1320664014

Adapted in part from Brian Turner (chef) by Wikipedia contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text has been edited and combined with the existing article; this adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.