Great British Chefs

Aspiring chefs, home haute cuisine masters and future Frasier Krane’s lend me your ears! I give you Great British Chefs, the only online, on Pad and on Phone culinary resource you’ll ever need.
Founded by Ollie Lloyd, ex head of creative consultancy Creamer & Lloyd and former Brand manager with Unilever, Great British Chefs is an online platform for real Chefs, real recipes and everything in between.

On Wednesday, the Figs got a first hand account of what it takes to build an online venture that gets reps from Facebook giving you a call to ask if you can share your lessons. Over chef Ugo’s ham and pea risotto, Ollie shared his story.

Uninspired by the overdose of celebrity chefs, their recipe’s and their over PR’ed product tie ins and sponsorships, Ollie wanted to make an online resource and platform that celebrated the professional chef. These are the people slogging behind the stoves, who slowly over the past two decades have transformed the U.K from a culinary backwater into a proud destination for foodies around the world.

His first app which featured the most interactive food porn the iPad has ever seen, immediately received some amazing reviews - App Magazine gave it five stars and listed it in it Top 100 Apps Ever. Building a massive online following of foodies ranging from beginners to those who find calmness while clarifying a consomme - Great British Chef’s has become more than just a platform for cooks, but a community that celebrates all things food.

Ollie is not resting on his laurels though and has already launched a ‘Feastive’ app which features 21 of the most dynamic British chefs offering their take on a seasonal meal - with only one rule: no Turkey.

The figs were awfully impressed.

Once Ollie had left the building we immediately broke out the office iPad and downloaded the Great British Chefs app. After giving it a once over you immediately realise what all the hype is about. Instead of just a depository of content, this thing is useful. The photography is beautiful, the text is large and easy to read and you can immediately see yourself using it while you cook.

A flour stained iPad while kneading dough perhaps, with one eye on this digital bible that ever so gently teaches you everything you need to know about the world of bread and beignet’s. If God had to get creative in the kitchen, he’d use this app.

This is exciting stuff. But forget the Marcus Wearing recipes, forget the design, the layout and the beautifully tarted up food porn on offer, what Ollie and the people at the Great British Chefs have done, is created a tool that exists to serve you. And in a world where technology continues to assert itself on the lives of its owners, this can’t be anything but good.

http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/

Words: Faisal Siddiqui