Jean-Christophe Novelli in Moscow/Pavillion Restaurant

Jean-Christophe Novelli is a 5 AA Rosette and Michelin award winning chef, who is also dubbed "the nation's favourite French Chef".
He began his exciting career at the age of fourteen as a baker in his home town of Arras, Northern France, becoming private Head Chef to Elie de Rothschild in Paris before the age of 20.

Jean-Christophe's life changed completely when he arrived in Great Britain in 1983. He spent a year taking care of Keith Floyd's pub, ‘The Maltsters', as Head Chef whilst Keith was filming his famous TV Shows.

In 1996, Jean-Christophe opened his first restaurant, Maison Novelli in Clerkenwell, London, followed quickly by Novelli W8, Novelli EC1 and Les Saveurs in Mayfair. In addition to his mini empire, Jean-Christophe also launched Novelli at the Cellars; Cape Town's leading five-star Relais et Chateaux Hotel, Moulin de Jean in Normandy, France and was Chef Consultant on Sea France Ferries. Over his career Jean-Christophe has accumulated no less than four consecutive Michelin Stars. After putting these restaurants on the international map, Jean-Christophe decided to move on to new ventures.


Some of his culinary accolades include ‘5 AA Rosettes', ‘AA Chefs Chef of the Year' 1998, ‘European Chef of the Year' competition representing Great Britain, ‘Face of the Future' The Times 1986, ‘Newcomer of the Year' Carlton TV Awards, Egon Ronay ' Dessert of the Year 1992' for his famous Jack-in-the-Box dessert, many times voted ‘Restaurant of the Year', awarded on numerous occasions ‘Best Restaurant of the Year outside London'.

The Novelli Academy opened its doors on April 22nd 2005 and, within three months, was voted amongst the ‘Top 25 Cookery Schools in the World'. Jean-Christophe restored part of his 14th century Hertfordshire farmhouse so that the Novelli Academy could be accommodated in his own home.

The Novelli cookery courses are designed to appeal to all ages and abilities, novice or experienced. The Novelli Academy team aim to make cookery and wine appreciation accessible to everyone and Jean-Christophe personally hosts a number of courses. A course at the Novelli cookery school is a day never to be forgotten!

For further information on the selection of themed and seasonal one and two day course options, please e-mail us at: academy@jeanchristophenovelli.com

Jean-Christophe is now the proud owner of two Gastro pubs with plans for many new Novelli gastro pubs around the country. His first British gastro pub opened its doors on Friday 13th January 2006. 'A Touch of Novelli' at The White Horse in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. The White Horse opened to rave reviews from diners, locals and celebrities alike.

In September 2007 Jean-Christophe was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Bedfordshire University for his 30 years of dedication to his craft and outstanding achievements in cooking. Jean-Christophe is only the 3rd Chef in history to achieve this recognition!

Jean-Christophe is also a well-known TV chef having appeared on a wide variety of the UK's most popular cookery programmes including Daily Cooks, Saturday Cooks, Richard & Judy's Tender Loving Cooking and Maa Osama Atyab in the UAE. In addition, he hasalso featured on an impressive selection of prime time TV shows including Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Hell's Kitchen, Celebrity X Factor, Loose Women, Through the Keyhole, The Apprentice, The Alan Titchmarsh show, BBC Breakfast and MTV Cribs.

He makes regular appearances at regional, national and international events including the Festival of Dubai, Ideal Home Show, The France Show, BBC Good Food Shows, Grand Designs and Homes and Gardens and in April 2008 launched London Restaurant Week.

Jean-Christophe also has extensive consultancy agreements with a number of blue chip companies including Carlsberg and Volkswagen UK.

In February 2008 Jean-Christophe released his second book ‘Everyday Novelli' published by Headline Publishing. Everyday Novelli is a gorgeous new collection of accessible and inspiring recipes which look and taste delicious and are easy to create. From weekday breakfasts and indulgent Sunday brunches to quick lunches, impressive dinner party dishes and even tea-time treats or midnight snacks, this book covers every occasion. His first book ‘Novelli Your Place or Mine?' was published in May 1998 by Quadrille Publishing Limited.

Jean-Christophe signed a deal in 2008 with Mentorn USA for an exclusive series for NBC BRAVO. "Chef Academy" is a nine part series that chronicles his move to Los Angeles as he opens a cooking school, which will air in July 2009. Ten chefs with varying levels of cooking ability are set to be trained by Novelli, all of whom want to improve their skills, some to a professional standard. A second series is expected to be filmed later on in the year. On 7 January 2009 he also appeared as a judge on Top Chef, an Americanreality competition show that also airs on Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in weekly challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants eliminated each week.

This year, has been an exciting year so far starting off with a fantastic 3 day event at Earls Court in London. Once again, Jean-Christophe hosted his own Cookery Theatre for three days at the France Show 2009. The demonstrations were being watched up to 600 people per show.

In February 2009 he is visiting Russia for the French Cuisine Restaurant Week at the Pavillion Restaurant in Moscow where he has personally designed a special menu which he is confident will provide the clientele with a "fusion taste experience extraordinaire". His plans for 2009 are many and varied and mirror his determination to continually expand his horizons. In April he will be opening a brand new 200 seat restaurant at The Hotel Lorcrimar in Puerto Banus, Spain. "This is a wonderful opportunity to create the most exciting cuisine which will feature the finest foods, the most fabulous flavours and an originality which will make Hotel Lorcrimar the undisputed centre ‘where the elite meet to eat'. It is my goal that this new restaurant will stimulate the appetites and the taste-buds of all those who seek the very best ‘fine dining experience'.

Later on in the year, on the other side of the Atlantic, Jean-Christophe will be setting up a Novelli Academy / Chefs Table in Los Angeles, building on the success of his TV series which he will use as a spring board to launch a new and innovative culinary regime on the American continent.