About Me
I struggled at school and left at 14 to work at a bakery. I also worked at a local brasserie before doing national service, which I hated. When I was 19 I worked at a chain of restaurants, PLM St Jacques, which was owned by the Rothschild family. I then became the private chef to Eli Rothschild's son. At 22, I moved to Britain and my reputation as a quality chef started to spread. Rick Stein introduced me to Keith Floyd, and became chef-manager of Keith Floyd's pub and restaurant, the Maltsters Arms in Totnes. Moving on, I won my first Michelin star whilst chef-pâtron at Provence in Lymington, Hampshire. Whilst there also won the Egon Ronay Dessert of the Year Award and ever since have been renowned for my spectacular desserts. I moved to London in 1993 and became head chef of the Four Seasons Hotel. In 1996, I opened Maison Novelli in Clerkenwell. In nine months I had expanded his operations to a range of restaurants not only in London but also Cape Town. In 1999, however, I went bankrupt. According to Harpers & Queen in 1999, I was the fifth most alluring man in the world. For three years I was Directeur des Cuisines of the restaurant, Auberge du Lac at Brocket Hall stately home. My recent venture is a Cooking Academy at Crouchmore Farm residence in Hertfordshire. According to Caterer & Hotelkeeper: "Novelli cooks with his heart, with a passion that can at times seem reckless, and creates food fit for the Gods." In 2005, myself and fellow chef Gary Rhodes took over from Gordon Ramsay as hosts of Hell's Kitchen. They, in turn, gave way to Marco Pierre White. I was seen at his most heated in an an altercation with John McCririck in Hell's Kitchen. I have also banned the Standard food writers Toby Young and Kate Spicer from my restaurants, after their behaviour on Hell's Kitchen. I have been known to perform magic tricks after dinner. Someone reported in 2005 that Novelli had split up with Patsy Kensit, you will have to ask her. In March 2006, myself, Adam Reckitt, Carole Caplin, Freddie Windsor and guide John Hauf appeared in a Channel 5 documentary recreating the survival story from the plane crash in the Andes. In 2006, i also appreared in a celebrity version of The X Factor - forming The Chefs with Aldo Zilli, Paul Rankin and Ross Burden. However, we were the sixth act to be voted off the show. My album will be never be out.
