James Lowe

James Lowe grew up in Brighton, Sussex, and moved to London aged 22. After changing his initial plans of wanting to become a pilot, he began working at The Wapping Project where he quickly found himself in the kitchen, inspired and excited by a regularly changing menu that made the most of British produce.

In 2002, James moved to Michelin-starred French restaurant, La Trompette, as Junior Sous Chef, where he got his first taste of French-style cooking. Two years later, he went on to work at Heston Blumenthal’s three Michelin-starred Fat Duck, followed by a period at The River Café.In the summer of 2006, James started at St John Bread & Wine where he began as Sous Chef, quickly progressing through the ranks to become Head Chef in 2007, where he stayed for four years. 2011 saw James start the London-based chef collective with Isaac McHale and Ben Greeno, the Young Turks; a collective with the goal of creating a platform for chefs to work together and to promote a new approach to British cooking with a focus on small producers and collaboration. In April 2014, James Lowe and John Ogier opened Lyle’s in Shoreditch, where the inspiration was to demonstrate the possibilities of cooking with British ingredients. Lyle’s won a Michelin star 18 months after opening and was placed among The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2018.

Adding to his list of accolades, James also won ‘Breakthrough Chef of the Year’ at the Food & Travel Awards in 2015, followed by ‘Best Chef’ at the GQ Food & Drink Awards in 2016.