Fergus Henderson

Fergus Henderson was born in London in 1963 -the son of two architects - father a keen diner, mother a keen cook, He attended King Alfred School and then went on to study architecture before his thoughts turned to cooking.Whilst studying at the Architectural Association, he took a job at Smith’s Restaurant in Covent Garden and thus began his career as a chef. With occasional stints at The Globe in Notting Hill under his belt, Fergus along with his wife Margot took over the dining room at The French House pub in Soho where they quickly earned a loyal following and critical praise.
Fergus was introduced to Trevor Gulliver over supper and, having found the abandoned smoke house on the edge of the city district, and along with the French House Dining Room's manager - Jon Spiteri, the trio opened St. JOHN.
Fergus received an MBE in 2005 for his services to gastronomy and was awarded his first Michelin Star in 2009 for his restaurant St. JOHN in Smithfield. As well as running both St. JOHN Bar and Restaurant and St. JOHN Bread and Wine in Spitalfields, in April 2011 he opened the doors to his first hotel, the St. JOHN Hotel in London’s Chinatown.

Critical acclaim for Fergus's brand of simple, pared down cooking set in an architecturally though simple setting followed and St. John has won more that its fair share of awards and high rankings in national and international listings.
Fergus is now a published chef: Nose to Tail Eating - A Kind of British Cooking, first published in 1999 and re-published both in the UK and the U.S. (as The Whole Beast) garnered much acclaim and won the Andre Simon award for food writing.
A follow up book, Beyond Nose to Tail Eating was published in 2007, co-written with our head baker Justin Piers Gellatly. Regularly featured in the food pages of both national and international press and one or two appearances on television in the UK as well as America, Australia and Europe, Fergus enjoys a culinary reputation beyond the two restaurants and the hotel.
Fergus continues to develop projects all in the name of Nose to Tail Eating, the basic principle which best sums up Fergus's approach to food and the spirit with which one should approach not only cooking but the dining experience as a whole