Barry Lewis (cook)
| Barry Lewis | |
|---|---|
|
Lewis Cooking at Foodies Festival | |
| Born |
Barry Conrad Lewis 15 July 1982 Bristol, England |
| Occupation | Cook, author |
| Spouse(s) | Rebecca Gardner |
| Family |
Phoebe Jane (Daughter) Chloe Anne (Daughter) |
| Website | |
|
MyVirginKitchen | |
Barry Lewis (born 15 July 1982) is a British cook, author and founder of the website MyVirginKitchen.
A self-taught cook, Lewis began filming recipe attempts online from his home in Weston Super Mare in 2010 when he saw Jamie Oliver on a television show. After being signed up by Oliver to appear on his YouTube channel [1] Lewis attracted media coverage from local, national, and international news. His first cookbook entitled Dinner's On published by HarperCollins[2]was released in May 2014.
MyVirginKitchen
Lewis set up MyVirginKitchen as a way to inspire himself to learn to cook. He was working at the time as a quantity surveyor for Wates Group and would make recipe videos in the evenings to share with the world in an attempt to gain confidence in the kitchen.
Each video consists of Lewis cooking a recipe for the first time to inspire others to do the same; hence the name 'virgin kitchen.' Over time his reluctance to cook slowly began to turn into a passion; and a broad range of cooking videos were being uploaded including simple dinners, cooking with kids and stunts such as cooking using hair straighteners. Eventually, Lewis was discovered online by the individual that originally inspired him, Jamie Oliver.[3] Lewis decided to take a sabbatical from his surveying job to push his cooking passion further as a dedicated career.
Lewis also started making videos with YouTube personality Stuart Ashen, with most videos being Ashen's Food Specials, which are either reviewing foods of certain themes, or looking at (and sometimes eating) out of date food.
Becoming an author
Since leaving the construction industry Lewis has continued to entertain people of all ages with over 650 videos and has established a worldwide following. He is now an author and has written his first cookery book which has already been cited by The Bookseller as one to watch for 2014.[4] The book launch on May 8 saw a popular article from The Times on Barry's story featuring extracts from his first book.[5] Barry has appeared on a variety of television shows including Channel 5's Gadget Show testing barbecues[6] & ABC's Nightline [7] along with appearances at several food festivals and both national and international media events.
Lewis is currently represented by Jonny McWilliams of Wasserman TV Talent based in London.[8]
Bibliography
- Dinner's On, HarperCollins, 2014 ISBN 9780007544592
Personal life
Lewis has two daughters and lives with his wife Rebecca in North Somerset
Schedule
Barry usually uploads videos on youtube twice a week, with a recipe video on Tuesday and a fun video on Sunday. He has recently started uploading videos of him sampling foods of different countries. He also does taste tests with Stuart Ashen.
References
- ↑ Bruxelles, Simon. "Naked Chef Snaps Up Virgin Cook". 2013. The Times. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ↑ "Barry Lewis - Harper Collins Profile". Harper Collins.
- ↑ "Construction converts to online cook". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ↑ "Books to watch 2014". The Bookseller (Requires paid subscription to view).
- ↑ "There's a new naked chef and he's a virgin". The Times.
- ↑ "Barry Lewis testing BBQ's on the Gadget Show". The Gadget Show, Channel 5.
- ↑ "MyVirginKitchen feature on ABC Nightline". ABC Nightline. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ↑ "Barry Lewis Profile - Wasserman". Wasserman Media Group.