People and Personalities

Jean-Christophe Novelli has been described as 'the world's sexiest chef', with the ability to make women swoon with the flick of a whisk! But this is not an image that he wants! Because first and foremost Novelli is a chef.

His career in the culinary arts, has resulted in four Michelin stars, plus numerous other accolades including AA Chef’s Chef of the Year, European Chef of the Year finalist representing Great Britain, and the prestigious Egon Ronay Dessert of the Year.

He has won restaurant of the year several times and many other awards on numerous occasions.

His work has taken him all over the world, and now quite a lot of his work is centred on Beds and Herts. Jean-Christophe was Chef patron at Novelli at Auberge du Lac at Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire, where after three years, and successfully putting the restaurant on the map, he moved onto new ventures.

Success

Now he has the Novelli Academy cookery school near Luton where he personally takes courses, and which is placed in the top 25 in the world. And he opened his first British gastro pub, 'A Touch of Novelli' at The White Horse in Harpenden in January 2006.

He is very pleased with how the school is going, and told BBC Three Counties Radio's Lorna Milton that Luton has become part of his success and has also contributed to his future in more ways than one!

"It's fantastic" he said!

"I train people from all corners of the world [including] New York, Dubai, and Cyprus and it's wonderful.

"You know what people think of Luton, but Luton is where I met my beautiful fiancee! It's definitely part of my life because I met my fiancee on the way to the airport and I [also] bought a wonderful establishment which at the time was just a farm and which has now become one of the best academy cookery schools in the world.

"I'm actually delighted with all the support of the area" he added.

"I think it's very important not to give names to places that you do not know, Luton is definitely part of my success."

Achievements

And his local links don't end there! Last year, the University of Bedfordshire awarded him an honoury doctorate in honour of his outstanding achievements in both the culinary arts and the broadcast industry, something which he is very proud of:

"Yes, I was surprised and amazed that they thought about giving me this recognition" he said.

"At first I was a little bit apprehensive about accepting the award, but then I look back at everything I've achieved in my life and thought that perhaps I deserved this.

"But then, if I did, there should be millions of people like me who should [also] receive one" he added.

"The reason I accepted was respect of their commitment to this and also I hope this will influence young people, or anyone of any age, to use me as perhaps some sort of a guideline [in their] life. But I have to say I am very, very chuffed and very, very honoured that the University of Bedfordshire sorted this out."

Sexy

So what about this image of being the sexy chef, for while his awards for his looks aren't as numerous as as those for his cooking, they include being voted “The World's Sexiest Chef” by New York Times and he was also in the Sky viewers “Top 50 beautiful Men” poll.

Jean-Christophe is clear on this matter.

"It really annoys me" said firmly, "but because it's like a compliment you don't reject compliments. They are not actually saying something bad against me, but it's actually something that doesn't matter to my life because at the end of the day I will always be a chef, a very good chef and a very special chef in my own art.

"If you give me attributes like sexy chef, frankly I don't give a toss because I don't need it to become who I am" he continued, "because for many years I worked in a kitchen where nobody knew who I was or who was creating the beautiful dishes.

"But it does annoy me because it seems to be the only thing I have to offer. The person I am is not actually the person that people look at. I am just a human being who just loves cooking!"