After Dinner Speakers: Gary Rhodes, Frank Skinner, Richard Vranch

Perhaps more than any other chef Gary Rhodes has reinvigorated British cooking with his own modern twist on the traditional. Fittingly, Gary's first culinary success was a traditional lemon sponge made for his family when he was 14. It was the pleasure of that occasion that encouraged him to go on to catering college in Broadstairs, Kent. Three years later he was student of the year and soon found himself a job at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam as a junior chef. Not long after, however, he had a life-changing experience when he was run down by a tram and had to undergo brain surgery. Fortunately he made a complete recovery, proposed to his college girlfriend and returned to England to work at the Capital Hotel. Gary received his first Michelin star at the Castle Hotel, Somerset, followed by two others at The Greenhouse and his own restaurant, City Rhodes. One of his most recent ventures was the Rhodes and Co brasserie at the famous Edinburgh department store Jenners. Now of course a regular on our screens, his first television appearance was presenting a live ten-minute slot in 1987, an experience he recalls as "pretty nerve-racking". He became a huge success and has since presented a number of television series, including Gary Rhodes' Cookery Year, Rhodes around Britain, a cookery series for children based on Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes and Gary Rhodes at the Table, and has hosted Masterchef. In between, he's even found the time to write several very successful cookery books. To fit in such a hectic schedule, his day usually begins at 4.30am, when he drives to his restaurant in London, arriving at 7am. He's rarely home before 11pm. Besides being a lover of food, Gary is a keen supporter of Manchester United and has a passion for cars, with his greatest ambition being to drive a Formula One car.