Aiden Byrne (born 1972[3]) is an English chef, best known as the owner of a number of establishments including The Collingwood, a bar and restaurant in West Kirby.[4]

Aiden Byrne
Born1972 (age 51–52)
Kirkby, Merseyside, England[1][2]
SpouseSarah Byrne (m. 2013)
Children3
Culinary career
Cooking styleBritish with Italian tones
Rating(s)
  • Top Notch
Websiteaidenbyrne.co.uk

Career

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Byrne is best known for opening The Collingwood pub in West Kirby a number of years ago.

He owned The Church Green in Lymm, Cheshire.[5] He also runs the British Grill in the Macdonald Hotel at Craxton Wood, near Chester.[6]

In 2002, he earned a Michelin star for his cooking in The Commons Restaurant in Dublin, Ireland. Before this position he worked at Roscoff Restaurant under Paul Rankin and Peacock Alley under Conrad Gallagher,[7] formerly head chef of the Grill Room at the Dorchester Hotel in London,[8] but left in January 2009 to run his own pub in Cheshire.[9]

At Adlards in Norwich, by age 22, Byrne was the youngest chef to win a Michelin star.[2] He worked at a number of Michelin-starred establishments. At Danesfield House and Spa,[10] near Marlow, Buckinghamshire, he was Executive Chef of the Oak Room and The Orangery Restaurants.[11] Before this, he spent two years as Head Chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Tom Aikens.[8] Byrne previously worked with Tom Aikens at the Pied à Terre restaurant as a sous chef.[12] He appeared on the television programme MasterChef in 2008.[13]

His first book, Made in Great Britain, was released in September 2008, along with a video podcast series of the same name based on the book, produced by pod3.tv.[14]

In 2013/14, Byrne opened a new restaurant in the city of Manchester called Manchester House, which cost around £3 million to create. Byrne's journey to opening this restaurant was featured in a three-part series for BBC Two called Restaurant Wars: The Battle for Manchester which was aired on the channel throughout April 2014. The other restaurant featured in the series was The French, opened by Simon Rogan around the same time as ManchesterHouse.

In August 2024, Byrne announced a new venture in the market town of Knutsford.

Personal life

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Byrne married his wife Sarah in 2013 in Mauritius. The couple have three children.

Charity

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Each year Byrne elects a charity for his restaurants to support. In 2013, the charity was Brainwave. One event which he held for this charity was gourmet evening which raised £4,380 for this cause.[15] He has previously supported the 'Movember' appeal as well as The Prince's Trust charity.

References

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  1. ^ "A web of delight; MARK THOMAS TRUST THE POST.(Features)". Daily Post (Liverpool). 11 September 2008.[dead link]
  2. ^ a b Pinch, Emma (9 September 2008). "Spurred on to cook in spite of the bullies; Chef's Table Emma Pinch talks to the chef who became the youngest person to win a Michelin star". Daily Post.[dead link]
  3. ^ "Drink-drive celeb chef spared jail; BAN". The Mirror via HighBeam Research. 24 August 2012. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  4. ^ "The Collingwood in West Kirby". thefoodplace.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  5. ^ Profile of The Church Green
  6. ^ "Aiden Byrne to launch British Grill at Macdonald Hotel Craxton Wood", caterersearch.com, 16 June 2011.
  7. ^ "If you can't stand the heat..." Archived 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ a b Rayner, Jay (27 May 2007). "Just don't look up". The Observer. UK. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  9. ^ "Dorchester head chef leaving to run own pub". caterersearch.com. 31 October 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  10. ^ Shearer, Paul (19 April 2006). "Danesfield House Hotel and Spa, Buckinghamshire". The Times. UK. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  11. ^ Jones, Lewis (20 September 2006). "The great Bucks tuck-in". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  12. ^ "Chef biogs: Aiden Byrne". BBC. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  13. ^ "Aiden Byrne recipes".
  14. ^ "Made in Great Britain". Amazon.co.uk. ASIN 1847731600.
  15. ^ "The Aiden Byrne Blog | News, events and recipes from Aiden Byrne and his restaurants". Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
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