Paul Rankin
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Michelin Star celebrity chef best known for Ready Steady Cook
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His books include New Irish Cookery, Dublin Dining, Hot Food and Gourmet Ireland
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Famous for his lively personality with many stories about his long career
Paul Rankin is a well known and loved chef who became a household name after appearing regularly on TV. Paul is best known for being one of the longest standing and most successful chefs on Ready Steady Cook, which regularly pulled in viewers of nearly 3 million.
In 1989, Paul Rankin changed the face of culinary Northern Ireland when he opened Roscoff, the first restaurant to win a Michelin Star in the country. Soon after opening, it became the favourite meeting place for the Belfast business and arts community, and people travelled from Dublin simply to experience what was considered to be the best cooking in Northern Ireland at the time.
More recently, with fellow chef Nick Nairn, Paul has presented three series of Paul and Nick's Big Food Trip, travelling on a boat around the coasts of Northern Ireland and Scotland exploring their Ulster Scots culinary heritage. The third series was filmed in the USA following the trail of Ulster-Scots settlers who sailed to the New World three hundred years ago.
Paul has also appeared on Step up to the Plate (BBC1), Local Food Heroes (UKTV), Saturday Kitchen (BBC1), Ten Mile Menu (ITV1), and Celebrity X Factor (ITV1) as one of The Chefs. The group was so popular that they made it to the final stages of the competition. Paul has had several of his own series, including The Rankin Challenge, which won two coveted Glenfiddich awards, and Gourmet Ireland (BBC1) which was also transmitted on the PBS network in the USA and the accompanying book was published by KQED (USA).
In 2013 Paul Rankin appeared in Chefs: Put Your Menu Where Your Mouth Is, and in 2014 on series 4 of Pointless Celebrities on BBC One. In 2014 he appeared in three episodes of Win It Cook It on Channel 4, and as a panellist on BBC Two's The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice.
As a successful cookery author, Paul's books include New Irish Cookery, Dublin Dining, Hot Food, Gourmet Ireland, and Gourmet Ireland Two as well as contributions to books for BBC programmes Ready Steady Cook, and Saturday Kitchen.
In 2005 he was asked to overhaul the menus at a Belfast care home for the elderly and his enthusiasm for this cause has led to him addressing conferences and events for care industry professionals. This in turn triggered a Tonight with Trevor McDonald special programme on the subject for ITV1 in which Paul was heavily featured. Paul Rankin is an ambassador and consultant for Sodexo's education programme, inspiring healthy eating and cookery skills among children in UK schools.
He has his own range of traditional Irish breads called Rankin Selection, launched in 2002 through a partnership with Irwin's Bakery. The phenomenal success of the bread range in UK supermarkets inspired Paul to develop the brand further and in 2004 he launched an Irish sausage range.
Paul Rankin is famous for his lively personality and has many stories to tell about his long career in the food industry.
Paul covers topics including catering, food education, food in the healthcare industries (from work with Sodexco and Barchester healthcare) bread, fish and sustainability and Ulster-Scots culinary traditions.
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How to book Paul Rankin for your event
To book Paul Rankin, please submit an online enquiry to booking.agent@nmp.co.uk or contact one of our booking agents on +44 (0)20 3822 0003.
Multi-Michelin and 5AA Rosette award winning French chef
Michelin star chef and star of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen
Chef and restaurateur specialising in Italian, vegetarian and seafood cuisine
TV chef known for This Morning and Ready Steady Cook
Scotland's best-known chef, food campaigner and TV presenter
Twice Michelin starred Chef