A biography for Marco Pierre Whitehasn’t been written yet.
“When you roast a chicken perfectly, there's nothing more delicious.”
“Oh, I love ladies in hats! One rule of restaurants: never take a hat from a lady; wait for her to offer you the hat because she might not want to take it off - she might not have had time to do her hair properly.”
“A tree without roots is just a piece of wood.”
“I came from the most humble side of society, and I know what it's like to be poor, really poor, and I was brought up in the '60s and '70s very poor, and I'm very happy flying the flag for the working man.”
“If you are not extreme, then people will take shortcuts because they don't fear you.”
“My mind might be conservative, but at heart, I was always a socialist.”
“I am not the sort of person who gives up.”
“My favourite dessert is tarte Tatin.”
“I don't need Michelin, and they don't need me.”
“If you really want to know what motivated me as a young man, it was a fear of death.”
“I just can't stand Tony Blair.”
“I'm a great fan of farmed products, as long as it's done properly, because it allows people to be able to afford them. If it wasn't for farmed products, a lot of people wouldn't eat so well.”
“I don't like London. I'm not happy here. I don't even own a flat here.”
“I met my first wife at the fishmonger's in the summer of 1987, some six months after opening Harveys.”
“'Kitchen Wars' makes 'MasterChef' look like a walk in the park!”
“People are bored of these 12-course gastronomic menus. They want affordable glamour.”
“People still think I led a rock and roll lifestyle. I was in my kitchen 100 hours a week; I didn't have time to do that.”
“In 1990 at Harveys, when I was 28 years old, I became the youngest chef to win two Michelin stars. It was a huge achievement.”
“My mother's death was the defining moment of my life.”
“I love the countryside, which is where I live and feel most comfortable, and hate being surrounded by herds of people.”