By Danny Gutmann

Copyright manchestereveningnews

Renowned cook Jamie Oliver has been a mainstay of British cuisine for many years and has recently hinted at a significant career shift within the next five years. At 50, Jamie has become a familiar face in households across the country, thanks to his numerous television programmes and cookery books that share his extensive knowledge and experience in the culinary industry, which he has been part of for the majority of his life. Despite his ongoing success, he recently discussed the challenges he encountered when opening his first restaurant , which left him “a couple of hundred grand in debt”. Discussing his future aspirations, he told Woman’s Day magazine: “I’d like to run a restaurant. I dream of that. I want to get in a kitchen. Hopefully next to my house so I can walk to work and my veggie patch.” He further added: “I know that sounds romantic but that’s what I’m building now. And hopefully that’s just five years away. To feed people is such a thrill.” It appears that Jamie remains undeterred by the difficulties faced during his initial restaurant venture, Fifteen, located at 15 Westland Place, London. Launched in 2002, the restaurant was part of a social project where Jamie invited 15 unemployed individuals aged between 16-24 to train in his kitchen. He revealed to Davina McCall on her Begin Again podcast: “I spent all of it (his money) on building Fifteen. Not only all of it, but I think for three weeks I was a couple of hundred grand in debt because the builders were fighting with the designers and it was kind of going over and I didn’t understand business.” Fortunately, Jamie’s venture was saved by earnings from his cookbook sales, explaining: “Thankfully, another royalty cheque from Penguin, thank you, saved the day and we built Fifteen and we launched it.” At that stage in his professional journey, he was already establishing himself as a major talent following the enormous praise he received when his first cookery publication, The Naked Chef, arrived in bookshops in 1999, with his television programme beginning to broadcast around the same period. Jamie’s Italian outlets are no longer operating in the UK following the firm’s collapse into administration, resulting in all locations closing their doors in 2019. The celebrity chef had previously established his own dining empire, Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group, in 2008, which encompassed 42 Jamie’s Italian establishments spread across several nations at the peak of its operations. Whilst he initially gained recognition following the debut of his Naked Chef programme, it was considerably earlier that he first started acquiring his culinary expertise. He began his professional journey employed at the nationwide Italian chain Carluccio’s, where he worked as a pastry chef, before departing for London’s River Cafe.