# How I Went From Pub Kitchens to TV Fame: Jamie Oliver on The River Café,  BBQ & The Naked Chef

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-recipe-7544191/how-i-went-from-pub-kitchens-to-tv-fame-jamie-oliver-on-the-river-caf-bbq-the-naked-chef
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-recipe-7544191/how-i-went-from-pub-kitchens-to-tv-fame-jamie-oliver-on-the-river-caf-bbq-the-naked-chef.md
Podcast: [The Recipe](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-recipe-7544191)
Published: 2026-06-05T09:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://episode.flightcast.com/01KT1919R732VDXJBXWWBN7M5D.mp3
Audio file: https://episode.flightcast.com/01KT1919R732VDXJBXWWBN7M5D.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-recipe-7544191/episodes/how-i-went-from-pub-kitchens-to-tv-fame-jamie-oliver-on-the-river-caf-bbq-the-naked-chef
Duration seconds: 3574

## Resource

In this episode, Theo is joined by the brilliant Jamie Oliver, the global phenomenon, tireless campaigner, and one of the most influential voices in food who has spent his career making cooking accessible, joyful, and transformative for millions of people around the world. From his early days growing up in his parents' pub The Cricketers in Essex where he started cooking at just 11 years old, to training with the legendary Gennaro Contaldo at Neal Street Restaurant, working alongside Theo at the River Cafe, and becoming a household name with The Naked Chef at just 23, Jamie's journey is a testament to the power of passion, resilience, and cooking with heart. With over 25 bestselling cookbooks, groundbreaking campaigns including the sugar tax and school food revolution, his charity Fifteen that transformed the lives of young people from challenging backgrounds, and his latest book Barbecue: Easy Grilling Big Flavour, Jamie represents a generation of chefs who celebrate bold flavours, accessible home cooking, and the belief that food can change lives. Throughout the episode, Jamie shares his remarkable journey from spending hours prepping vegetables in the wash up at The Cricketers surrounded by punk rockers and mods with flat tops and tall boxes instead of chef bags, to being paid one pound twenty an hour as an 11 year old working double shifts on Sundays whilst his mates played football, the moment his college friend Marco wrote down Gennaro Contaldo's name on a piece of paper and told him there were only two people in London to learn proper pasta from, and why getting the head pastry chef job at Neal Street Restaurant after swotting up on Italian cookbooks from Saffron Walden library changed his life. He discusses the culture shock of moving from quarterly menus to wr…

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