Food

Mary Berry, CBE. Food writer.

Mary Berry, CBE. Food writer.

Chosen by The Sunday Times food team, Oliver Thring and Gizzi Erskine.

The British food industry is currently experiencing an incredible high, with a total of 167 restaurants in UK and Ireland currently holding Michelin stars and London offering more culinary variety than ever before. Cookery programmes occupy prime time slots in the television schedules and recipe books regularly top the bestseller lists. The Sunday Times food team, Oliver Thring and Gizzi Erskine, therefore faced quite a challenge selecting their most influential people from British food. The list includes restaurateurs and chefs, as well as the food critics and bloggers who are influencing Britain’s diners.

Oliver Thring is the assistant editor on the News Review desk at The Sunday Times and was, until recently, the assistant food editor for The Sunday Times Magazine. He has a written about food across Fleet Street and has frequently appeared on radio and television programmes including the Great British Bake-Off. He has been twice shortlisted for a Guild of Food Writers award.

Gizzi Erskine trained at Leith's School of Food and Wine and graduated the top of her year. She went on to win a placement at the BBC Good Food magazine, where she began to establish herself as a food writer, and is now known for her television appearances on Cook Yourself Thin, Iron Chef, Cookery School and Drop Down Menu.