Grilling

It's an absolute culinary titan on our latest episode of Grilling, as Marco Pierre White joins Simon to discuss his career - and prepare seared lamb chops and salmon a la plancha with ketchup vinaigrette in real life! Lucky Simon ...Arguably the finest chef the UK has ever produced, Marco walks us through his career in intoxicating style, from his humble beginnings in Leeds to spearheading the restaurant revolution on these shores in the late 80s and beyond. He stepped away from the kitchen at 38, but did more in his relatively short stint in professional kitchens than most dream of achieving in a lifetime, You can watch him prepare his surf and turf dish on a Weber Genesis barbecue at weber.com/grilling - along with recipes by Yotam Ottolenghi, Andi Oliver and John Torode.

Who better to invite to prepare a dish on a Weber Genesis barbecue than John Torode? The loveable Aussie joins Simon to discuss his culinary upbringing in his homeland, his disastrous first restaurant, why he made the move to the UK, working for the visionary entrepreneur Terence Conran, and, of course, the joys of Masterchef.We then send him into the garden to grill a whole wild sea bass with seaweed and lemon butter and potatoes, which you can watch in full HERE

Welcome to the brand new season of Grilling in association with Weber Barbecues - the podcast in which Simon Rimmer speaks to the world's best chefs about their passion for food, cooking, and the hospitality business. And, in an exciting change from our previous series, we're not getting our guests to talk about what they'd make on a Weber Grill - but actually do it.First up is Yotam Ottolenghi. Born in Israel, Yotam is often credited with popularising Middle Easter cuisine, though he's far too humble to accept that claim. We discuss his journey from Jerusalem to London restaurateur, via a sleazy Amsterdam hotel.And you can watch him prepare his beautiful hasselback beetroot with lime leaf butter on a Genesis barbecue here, so you can impress your friends when they come round for a cook-up at the weekend ...

Born in Samoa, raised in New Zealand, and now firmly established as one of our most highly regarded chefs, Monica Galetti is supremely humble, but clearly fantastically gifted in the kitchen. Here she tells Simon about Desert Island Discs, barbecues on Polynesian beaches, representing Oceania in cookery competitions all over the world, getting her first job in the UK with Michel Roux Jr, and juggling the considerable challenges motherhood with the pressures of running of her first restaurant. We love her!

When one considers global Australian icons, many spring to mind - think Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Peter Carey, Shane Warne, Elle Macpherson and, of course, Bouncer - but chef Bill Granger certainly belongs on any such list. A self-taught cook, like Simon, Bill now has a restaurant empire that spans globe, and is also a hugely popular face on our television screens. Here he reveals all about his culinary journey, which is spookily similar to our Simon's. It's a lovely sharing of yarns from the glorious industry that is hospitality, which we very much hope you enjoy

Our latest guest on Grilling is one of the most charismatic chefs in the business. Richard Corrigan has led quite the life - and has plenty of amazing stories to show for it. Here he tells Simon about selling fags to his pals as a schoolboy, the sneaky way he guaranteed a great review from formidable food critic Fay Maschler, his love of George Orwell and nightly scuffles with drug dealers outside his first restaurant. Richard is great value - though ready yourself for some colourful language!

Our latest guest on Grilling is a larger than life Italian, who has been a key player in bringing his native cuisine to British shores over recent decades. Born and raised on the Amalfi coast, Gennaro Contaldo started helping out in restaurants as a young boy, before moving to the UK in the late 60s. Initially, he worked in a fish and chip shop and then various London restaurants - including Antonio Carluccio’s restaurant on Neal Street. It was there he met Jamie Oliver, his protege, famously teaching him everything he knows about Italian cooking. Here we find out about chasing chickens, his loathing of bad British carbonara, foraging for mushrooms, and his profoundly significant relationships with Antonio and Jamie.

Having spoken to plenty of long-established types from the British culinary scene, Simon welcomes some young blood to Grilling this week in the shape of Tom Brown. Born and raised in Redruth, Tom cut his teeth under local luminaries Paul Ripley and Nathan Outlaw in his native Cornwall, before opening his own restaurant, Cornerstone, in Hackney Wick. Named by Harden’s as London’s best seafood restaurant, Cornerstone now has a Michelin star, cementing Tom’s reputation as one of our finest young chefs. Here they talk bang bang chicken, Arctic Monkeys, souped-up Vectras, barbecued lobster, and Tom’s bizarre phobia of baked beans.