Nick Nairn

Nick Nairn is one of Scotland’s most exciting cookery talents. From restaurateur to celebrity chef, Nick Nairn has had a long and pioneering career in the UK food industry. He is also a familiar face to many due to his high-profile television appearances. Nick is equally famous for his staunch support of top-quality Scottish produce, and passionate advocacy of healthy eating. Based at his stunning Port of Menteith Cook School, Nick’s hectic schedule includes teaching, filming and also writing. He is also in high demand as a food consultant and travels the world giving cooking demonstrations and speaking on food-related issues.

Growing up in the gorgeous Scottish Trossachs, Nick’s love of the outdoors and native country came early. But it wasn’t until he answered an advert for a navigating officer with the merchant navy that his eyes were opened to the wonders of global cuisine.

Braeval Restaurant:

Returning to Scotland to attend the Glasgow College of Nautical Studies, he found himself experimenting in the kitchen. This was in an attempt to copy those exotic dishes he experienced on his world travels. It wasn’t long before a fascination with food began to develop. It was a fascination that was also soon to grow into a consuming passion. In 1986, he opened his first restaurant, Braeval, near Aberfoyle.

Entirely self-taught, Nick was also causing a stir with his fresh style of cooking, and just a year after Braeval opened, he won the Scottish Field and Bollinger Newcomer of the Year Award. Four years later and Nick’s status as one of Scotland’s finest chefs was also confirmed. Braeval was awarded a coveted Michelin star.

Televsion:

As his fame grew, Nick also stumbled into the world of television, where his irreverent style combined with Scotland’s fabulous natural produce to create Wild Harvest in 1996. Wild Harvest 2 and also Island Harvest were soon to follow, all with accompanying books. These programmes have now been enjoyed by millions of viewers around the world, from Sweden to Zimbabwe.

Other shows have included Who’ll Do The Pudding, Back to Basics, and also Nick Nairn and the Dinner Ladies. For this Nick Nairn won a Glenfiddich award in 2004.

The popular 2006 series, Great British Menu, saw Nick competing against some of the country’s finest chefs before winning the opportunity to prepare the main course for Her Majesty The Queen’s 80th birthday banquet. But he is probably best known as a veteran of the long-running hit programme, Ready Steady Cook with Ainsley Harriott. This was a show with numerous guest chefs including, Ross Burden, Antony Worrall Thompson and Brian Turner. There was also Kevin Woodford, Silvana Franco and Lesley Waters to name but a few. Nick has co-presented Ready Steady Cook since 1996.

Nairn’s:

While his successful television career grew, Nick also continued to work as a chef. He opened a new establishment, Nairn’s Restaurant with Rooms, in 1997. It also was an instant success and proved pivotal to the burgeoning Glasgow restaurant scene.

A desire to spread his knowledge of cooking good, simple food, ultimately brought about the opening of his own Cook School in April 2000. With its idyllic setting in the Highlands , the school soon built up a well-deserved reputation as a foodies heaven and in 2004, it was completely re-developed. It finally re-opened as one of the leading cook schools in the world.

With state-of-the-art kitchens, the school also had facilities for up to 20 students to enjoy hands-on cooking. Pupils also benefit from of an unprecedented level of tuition from Nick and head tutors John Webber and Alan Mathieson, as well as the chance to experience fantastic ingredients from some of Scotland’s finest producers. The school is also supplied by the adjacent organic vegetable garden, managed by Nick’s wife and boasts a stunning restaurant-style dining room, a wood burning pizza oven, and also a smoke house, where the chefs produce their own organic smoked salmon.

However, in the same year he opened his Cook School, Nick also established Nairn’s Anywhere. This was an event catering business but boasting restaurant-quality food in any location. Also in 2001, catering giants Compass Group acquired Nairn’s Anywhere to provide the highest level of food and service in the prestige catering sector. However, Nick became much more involved with the company, and it is now run as a joint venture.

Through his food consultancy business, Nick Nairn Enterprise, Nick is kept busy with cooking demonstrations and public speaking. He travels across the country and also around the world educating and entertaining thousands with his animated and highly enjoyable performances. He regularly features on BBC Scotland’s Landward, cooking outside alongside Landward’s main presenter Dougie Vipond.

Nick is passionate about Scotland’s fabulous larder and he uses every possible opportunity to promote good food but also healthy living. Above all, his burning ambition is to fill his fellow Scots with enthusiasm for the wonderful natural produce that surrounds them.

Nick is married to Holly and has two beautiful children, Daisy born in 2002 and also Callum born in 2004.

NICK’S TELEVISION APPEARANCES:

1996..BBC2 Wild Harvest with Nick Nairn
1996-present..BBC2 Presenter Ready steady Cook
1996-present..Regular contributor to BBC Food and Drink. Also Masterchef, Celebrity Weakest Link, Chefs TV Blunders, This Morning and Good Food Live
1996-98..BBC2 Presenter Who’ll do the pudding
1996..BBC2 Wild Harvest 2 with Nick Nairn
1997..BBC1 Island Harvest
1998-present..BBC1 presenter Celebrity Ready Steady Cook
1996..ITV presenter GMTV Christmas Cooking with Nick Nairn
2000..Carlton TV, presenter, Back to Basics with Nick Nairn
2000..BBC radio Scotland, presenter Cooking with History
2001..BBC2 Presenter Kitchen Invaders
2001..Foodfest 2001, TV advertising campaign
2002..BBC1 Presenter So you think You’re a Good driver?
2003..Actor, Scottish Executive Healthy Eating advertising campaign
2003..BBC Scotland Presenter, Nick Nairn and the Dinner Ladies
2006..BBC2 Presenter, Great British Menu.
Nick is also a regular contributor to BBC Radio Scotland. He is in high demand for TV advertising and also documentary voice-over work.

SOME OF NICK’S MANY BOOKS:

Wild Harvest BBC Books, 1996
Wild Harvest II, BBC Books, 1997
Island Harvest, BBC Books, 1998
Big Ready Steady Cook Book, BBC Books, 1997
Great Food, West 175, 1998
Nick Nairn Cooks Desserts video, BBC Books 1999
Island Harvest (USA), West 175, 2000
Nick Nairn’s 100 Top Salmon Recipes, BBC books. February 2002
Zalm Top 100, BBC Worldwide (Holland). April 2002
Nick Nairn’s Top 100 Salmon Recipes (USA) West 175, 2002
New Scottish Cookery, BBC Books. November 2002
The Ready Steady Cook Book. BBC Books. September 2003
New Scottish Cookery (paperback) BBC Books. January 2004
Nick Nairn’s Top 100 Chicken Recipes, BBC Books, March 2004
Great British Menu, Dorling Kindersley, April, 2006
Fish n Tips, Cassell Illustrated, 2006

NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES:

1997-2000..Weekly columnist Sunday Mail
1997-present..Regular contributor BBC Good Food Magazine
1998-1998..Contributor, Ready Steady Cook part-work series
2000-2001..Weekly Diary, Sunday Herald
2000-2004..Fortnightly Food Column, Sunday Herald Magazine
2000- 2004..Quarterly Food column Scots Magazine, Scots Heritage Pty, Australia

Nick has also contributed to many other magazine and newspaper publications and written countless articles and opinion pieces.

JUST A FEW OF NICK’S AWARDS:

1986..Scottish Field, Bollinger Newcomer of the Year
1990..Scottish FieldCharles Heidsieck Scottish Restaurant of the Year
1991..Good Food Guide, Country restaurant of the Year1991..Michelin star
1991..MacallanDecanter Restaurant of the Year
1992..Member Masterchefs of Great Britain
1991..Founder member Scottish Chefs Association
1996..Scottish Chef of the Year
1998..President Drambuie Chefs School
1998..Tourist board- Thistle Award for Tourism and the Media
1998..Jacobs Creek World Food media Award. Also Silver Ladle for Best Television Show (Island Harvest)
2000..Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards 2000. For contribution to Food & Drink
2002..Personality of The Year, Food Processing Awards 2002. For development of the Baxters sauce range
2002..Best Cookware and Bakeware, 2002 Housewares Industry Awards. For Nick Nairn Tower Cookware range.
2003..Fellowship to the Master Chefs of Great Britain
2004..Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards Winner Best Food and Drink TV Show for Nick Nairn and The Dinner Ladies
2005..Nick Nairn’s Top 100 Chicken recipes selected in Food and Wine magazines. Also top 25 cook books of 2004