Ambassadors

Lisa has been leading the kitchen brigade at Northcote since the age of 23 and is a regular face on Britain’s TV screens impressing audiences and judges alike with her skills on shows like the Great British Menu, Snackmasters, and James Martin's Saturday Morning. 

Lisa is also a passionate advocate for charities and social causes, working tirelessly to support organisations including Springboard, Hospitality Action and Action Against Hunger. In addition to her role as Chair of Judges for Craft Guild of Chefs Young National Chef of the Year, she has been a guest judge for NHS National Chef of the Year and is Chef Ambassador for Slow Food in the UK and Taste Lancashire. 

Born in Samoa and raised in Wellington, New Zealand, Monica developed an early interest in food as it’s a very important part of the Samoan culture and trained as a chef in New Zealand. In 1999 she upped-sticks and moved to London to work for Michel Roux Jr. at two Michelin-starred Le Gavroche.

After a total of twelve years at Le Gavroche, Monica left in 2015 to spend some time with her family and focus on finding the best site for her first restaurant in London, Mere which opened in 2017 in Fitzrovia. Mere, fittingly the name of Monica’s own mother, is a melting pot of cultural influences; mixing the classical French of her husband David’s childhood with the exotic South Pacific and New Zealand from her own upbringing, weaving in elements inspired by her travels around the world and the British seasons.

Over the past 13 years Monica has become a familiar television personality, as the inimitable presenter and judge on BBC2’s highly popular MasterChef: The Professionals. Monica has also gone on to co-present three series of BBC2’s Amazing Hotels, alongside The Times restaurant critic, Giles Coren.

Legendary chef Michel Roux Jr was raised in Shipbourne, Kent where his father Albert Roux OBE worked as a private chef for the Cazalet family.

After deciding to follow in his father’s footsteps, he left school at 16 to start the first of several challenging apprenticeships in France and his military service before returning to London to complete more apprenticeships. 

After a stint at the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong, he returned to London once again and worked at La Tante Claire before joining the family business by taking over the running of Le Gavroche from his father in 1991. Since then, he has opened Roux at Parliament Square, Roux at The Landau, The Wigmore through his relationship with The Langham Hotel and, his business Chez Roux Ltd.

In addition to this, he has appeared on many popular prime time TV shows including BBC’s MasterChef: The Professionals, the Great British Food Revival, Saturday Kitchen and Michel Roux’s French Country Kitchen.

Always keen to support and develop the hospitality industry, Michel is Co-Chairman of The Roux Scholarship, along with his cousin Alain Roux, a renowned competition for chefs under 30 who are working in the UK that gives them the opportunity to win a three-month stage at any three-star Michelin restaurant in the world, all expenses paid.