The Eventim Apollo in west London has hosted some of the planet’s biggest music stars, from Kylie Minogue to Lana Del Rey. And, come March, a “new name will take to its stage”, said Hannah Evans in The Times. “But if adoring fans throw anything at him it’s more likely to be aprons than knickers – the headliner is the chef and TV personality James Martin.”
He isn’t the only talented cook to turn his hand to live events. Last year Mary Berry took to the stage at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in the West End for an interview with “reality TV darling” Rylan Clark. The evening was filled with “heart-warming anecdotes, practical baking tips, an abundance of charm and strictly no soggy bottoms”, said WhatsOnStage.
Jamie Oliver will be jetting off to Australia for an evening at the Sydney Coliseum Theatre, where he “won’t just talk about recipes”, said Time Out. He’s promising to “take a deep dive into his extensive career, from his early days on TV and his life as a restaurateur to his passion to transform school lunches and his life as a dad”. The audience will also be able to ask him their “burning foodie questions”.
Elsewhere, Yotam Ottolenghi is midway through a world tour, and Rick Stein’s UK theatre tour will be kicking off in March.
While there isn’t any cooking at the events, and they usually finish relatively early in the evening, shows like these mark the start of the “rock star chef era”, where beloved chefs and food writers “pull in the same size crowds as world-famous musicians”, said Evans in The Times.
The first rumblings of this new era began in 2012 when Blur bassist Alex James hosted the Big Feastival at his Cotswolds farm with celebrity chefs cooking on one stage, while famous musicians played on another. And in 2017, Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge launched a pop-up festival, Pub in the Park, which is still running today (this year’s guest chefs include Michel Roux Jr, Mary Berry and Emily Scott).
But with no actual cooking or “grumpy customers” and a “generous pay cheque”, a “sell-out tour is the golden ticket for chefs”. Securing these gigs isn’t easy; chefs must have a decades-spanning career to “make it into the hall of fame”. However, the time has arrived when chefs are becoming as “culturally important” as politicians or comedians.
“So the next time you see a line outside your local concert hall, don’t assume it’s the latest indie band playing. It’s just as likely to be a chef.”