Paul Rankin
| Paul Rankin | |
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Rankin at The Good Food Show in 2011
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| Born |
1 October 1959 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Website | http://www.rankinselection.com/ |
Paul Rankin (born 1 October 1959 Glasgow, Scotland) is a celebrity chef from Ballywalter, County Down, Northern Ireland. Rankin's parents moved back to Ballywalter, where he grew up, some time after he was born. This was stated when he was the subject of an episode of a short programme named Proud Parents on Channel 4, made in 2006. On the episode of Ready Steady Cook first broadcast on Tuesday 26 February 2008, he himself stated he was born in Scotland.
In 1989 Paul Rankin opened Roscoff, the restaurant that was to become the first to win a Michelin Star in Northern Ireland. Soon after opening, it became the favourite meeting place for the Belfast business and arts community, and people travelled from Dublin simply to experience what was considered to be the best cooking in Northern Ireland at the time. It closed in March 2013, with Rankin blaming, according to the Belfast Telegraph, the "Union Flag protests and bleak economy." The influence of Paul and Jeanne Rankin on Irish cuisine continues today, with many of the chefs in restaurants in Belfast and the rest of Northern Ireland having started their careers in the kitchen of Roscoff.
His first foray into television was in the series Gourmet Ireland, produced by Irish company Waddell Productions, and shown on both BBC and RTE. Both Paul and Jeanne starred in the show that was noted for the banter between the two. Jeanne is a successful pastry chef. He has since been a regular chef on the BBC cookery programme Ready Steady Cook. In 1999 Rankin was the first chef from Northern Ireland to be awarded a Michelin Star. He has written five cookery books & ran The Rankin Group chain of restaurants & cafés, including Cayenne and Roscoff in Belfast. His Canadian wife Jeanne introduced him to cooking and is co-owner of their business.
In 2006 Rankin competed in the Northern Ireland heat of the BBC's Great British Menu, a competition to cook for the Queen on her 80th birthday.
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