Background
Aikens was born in London, England in 1970, into a family of wine merchants.
Aikens was born in London, England in 1970, into a family of wine merchants.
This is about an English chef. Foreign the Queensland politician, see Tom Aikens (politician)
Tom Aikens (born 1970) is an English Michelin star winning head chef. The family had a converted barn in the Auvergne region of France and travelled around France where he was exposed to fine regional cuisine.
To develop his cooking skills, Aikens enrolled at the Norwich City College Hotel School.
His first job after he left college was at Michelin starred, David Cavalier’s restaurant in Battersea, London. worked for Pierre Koffman’s Louisiana Tante Claire in Chelsea, London, which gained a third Michelin star during his time there. He also worked with Philip Britten at the Capital Hotel and as a sous chef at Pied à Terre in Charlotte Street, under Richard Neat.
In Paris, he worked with Joël Robuchon, and Gerard Boyer at Reims. Aikens returned to the United Kingdom as Head Chef of Pied à Terre, where, at 26, he became the youngest British chef ever awarded two Michelin stars.
Here he stayed for five years until he was fired for branding the hand of a trainee employee with a hot palate knife.
In 2003, Aikens opened his own, eponymous restaurant in Chelsea. "Tom Aikens Restaurant." On 12 January 2012, the Chelsea restaurant re-opened following extensive renovations. In January 2014, it relocated to a more central London location.
Aikens" second restaurant, the brasserie-style Tom’s Kitchen, opened in Chelsea in 2006.
In 2008 Aikens opened the ill-fated Tom"s Place which closed six months later, creating financial problems for his restaurant group. Aiken sold his remaining two restaurants to TA Holdco Limited after putting them into administration in late 2008, leaving many suppliers out of pocket, a transaction that the Fair Trading Commission launched an investigation into.
In conjunction with Compass Group, Atkins also launched Tom’s Terrace, Tom’s Deli and a second Tom’s Kitchen site at Somerset House in September 2009. In June 2013 he opened a 130-seater restaurant in Canary Wharf in the modern British Brasserie-style.
Aikens has written three books
Cooking (2006), Fish (2008), and Easy (2011), and has collaborated with designer David Linley on a range of kitchenware. Television career
Aikens was one of the four Iron Chefs in Iron Chef United Kingdom on Channel 4 television He has appeared on Market Kitchen on United Kingdom Good Food Channel as well as on Great British Menu in 2011 and 2013.
Aikens also appeared in a few episodes of the programme Great Chefs Of The World.
