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Paul Rankin is a celebrity chef most well-known for his appearances on Ready Steady Cook which regularly brings in more than 3 million viewers. Along with his former wife, Jeanne, he had a huge impact on developing culinary excellence in Northern Ireland when he opened Roscoff, the restaurant that was to become the first to win a Michelin Star in the country. Soon after opening, it became the favourite meeting place for the Belfast business and arts community, and people traveled from Dublin simply to experience what was considered to be the best cooking in Northern Ireland at the time.
Although Paul was born in Glasgow, he gre up in Ballywalter, County Down, Northern Ireland, after his parents moved back there from Glasgow. This interesting upbringing was made explicit when he was the subject of an episode of a short programme named Proud Parents on Channel 4, made in 2006.
Paul met Jeanne in the 1980s, while working in the restaurant Le Gavroche in London, and it was to be the start of a brilliant cooking partnership. To begin with at Le Gavroche, Paul washed the dishes while Jeanne did the waitressing, but because of their skills it took only months for them to be elevated to the kitchens. During the next two and a half years they gained a classical grounding and the ability to be organised under pressure. They cooked in Canada and then Napa Valley before returning to Belfast in 1989 to open the hugely successful Roscoff restaurant.
Roscoff was voted Restaurant of the Year in the BBC Good Food Magazine's 1996 Awards. Paul and Jeanne went onto open the critically acclaimed Cayenne restaurant in Belfast.
In 1994 Paul and Jeanne presented the 15 part network BBC1 TV series Gourmet Ireland - showcasing the best of Irish ingredients plus their own distinctive cookery talents. The third series was transmitted during 1996 and BBC Books published two cookery books linked to the series.
For more then 25 years, Paul was married to Jeanne but their marriage ended amicably in 2011.
When not busy in his restaurants and with his television commitments, Paul is furiously writing recipes. He has published several books including Gourmet Ireland (BBC Books), Gourmet Ireland 2 (BBC Books), Ideal Home Cooking (Boxtree), Dublin Dining (Black & White Publishing) and New Irish Cookery (BBC Books).
Paul has been appointed International Ambassador for Bushmills Whiskey and regularly does consultancy work for Sodexo. He has his own range of phenomenally successful Irish breads with Irwins Bakery available in major supermarkets throughout the UK and is expanding the range all the time. It now includes sausages and pies. Paul is represented in London, England, by Useful Talent, who are specialists in arranging these king of endorsement deals, as well as, speaking engagements and other celebrity led campaigns.
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.
