Clare Smyth is the Northern Irish chef behind Core by Clare Smyth in London, the first UK restaurant run by a British woman to hold three Michelin stars. She built her reputation over thirteen years at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay before opening her own place in 2017, and has since expanded to Sydney and Chelsea.
Her cooking is defined by British ingredients, precise classical technique and a focus on sourcing directly from farmers. She was named World’s Best Female Chef in 2018 and holds an MBE for services to hospitality.
TL;DR
- Northern Irish chef, grew up on a farm in County Antrim, moved to England at 16
- Chef-patron and owner of Core by Clare Smyth (London, 2017) and Oncore by Clare Smyth (Sydney, 2021)
- First British woman to run a three-Michelin-star restaurant in the UK
- Spent 13 years at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, promoted to head chef in 2007 and chef-patron in 2012
- Named World’s Best Female Chef 2018, MBE in 2013, opened Corenucopia bistro in Chelsea in 2025
Clare Smyth key facts
| Born | County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | Northern Irish / British |
| Main restaurants | Core (London), Oncore (Sydney), Corenucopia (Chelsea) |
| Michelin stars | Three stars at Core (2021), one star at Corenucopia (2026) |
| Style | British produce, classical technique, sustainability focus |
| Notable awards | World’s Best Female Chef 2018, MBE 2013, Good Food Guide 10/10 |
| Training | Restaurant Gordon Ramsay (13 years), Le Louis XV Monaco |
Early life and training of Clare Smyth
Clare Smyth grew up on a farm in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Food was part of daily life from the start: home-cooked, rustic and seasonal, tied to produce coming directly off the land around her. She worked at a local restaurant during school holidays as a teenager, and the chef there (who had trained in Michelin-starred kitchens) gave her the first exposure to fine dining.
At 16 she moved to England to pursue cooking seriously. She studied catering at Highbury College in Portsmouth and worked short stints at Bibendum in Chelsea, Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck and the Roux brothers’ Waterside Inn before taking a six-month catering job in Australia.
Back in the UK she joined the St Enodoc hotel in Cornwall, and in 2002 stepped into Gordon Ramsay’s Royal Hospital Road restaurant in Chelsea. That move shaped the rest of her career. She was promoted to senior sous chef within three years, left briefly in 2005 to stage at Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry in California and Per Se in New York, then returned.
In 2007 Ramsay made her head chef of the three-Michelin-star flagship, the first British woman ever to lead a three-star restaurant in the UK. She became chef-patron in 2012 and spent another four years running the kitchen before leaving in 2016 to open her own place. A year in between at Alain Ducasse’s Le Louis XV in Monaco added another layer to her technical foundation.
Clare Smyth career timeline
- Age 16: Moves to England from Northern Ireland to train as a chef
- Studies: Catering at Highbury College, Portsmouth
- Early career: Short stints at Bibendum, The Fat Duck, Waterside Inn, St Enodoc Hotel
- 2002: Joins Restaurant Gordon Ramsay on Royal Hospital Road
- 2005: Stages at The French Laundry and Per Se, then returns
- 2007: Named head chef at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, first British woman to run a 3-star restaurant
- 2008: Spends a year at Alain Ducasse’s Le Louis XV in Monaco
- 2012: Promoted to chef-patron of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
- 2013: Awarded MBE for services to hospitality
- 2016: Leaves Restaurant Gordon Ramsay to open her own place
- 2017: Opens Core by Clare Smyth in Notting Hill, London
- 2018: Core receives two Michelin stars; Smyth named World’s Best Female Chef; caters the Harry and Meghan royal wedding
- 2021: Core awarded three Michelin stars; opens Oncore in Sydney
- 2025: Opens Corenucopia bistro in Chelsea
- 2026: Corenucopia earns its first Michelin star within two months of opening
Clare Smyth signature style
Smyth’s cooking is rooted in British produce and the farms she built relationships with growing up. Core is positioned as informal fine dining rather than traditional white-tablecloth formality, and the menu is organised around named British farmers and producers rather than abstract concepts.
The technical foundation is unmistakably French classical, drawn from thirteen years in Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen and reinforced at Le Louis XV. What makes Core distinct is how that technique is applied to humble British ingredients (potatoes, carrots, lamb) rather than imported luxury goods. The most famous example is her “Potato and Roe” dish, a slow-cooked Jersey Royal with dulse butter and herring roe that became a signature the day Core opened.
Sustainability runs through the operation. Smyth works with specific producers over many years, uses whole animals, and builds the Core Academy internal training programme so staff understand the full cycle from farm to plate. Half her team, front and back of house, are women, a deliberate choice given how rare that balance still is in three-star kitchens.
Notable dishes at Core
Three dishes define the Core menu. The Potato and Roe (a single Jersey Royal, slow-cooked and served with dulse butter and trout or herring roe) is the signature that has been on the menu since opening in 2017 and remains the dish most associated with Smyth. Her take on carrot cake reworks a homely British staple into something technically precise without losing the emotional reference to childhood. And the Malteser-inspired chocolate-and-malt dessert uses a vacuum technique to expand malt into the delicate disc served on top, a piece of kitchen engineering designed to trigger instant sensory memory.
Clare Smyth awards and recognition
- 2013: Appointed MBE for services to hospitality; named National Chef of the Year by Good Food Guide
- 2015: Perfect 10/10 score in the Good Food Guide
- 2016: Chef of the Year at The Catey Awards
- 2017: Michelin Female Chef Award
- 2018: Core awarded two Michelin stars; Smyth named World’s Best Female Chef by 50 Best
- 2019: Core becomes the first restaurant to enter the Good Food Guide with a perfect 10/10 score
- 2021: Core awarded three Michelin stars, first British woman to achieve this in the UK
- 2022: Core named highest UK restaurant in La Liste 2022
- 2026: Corenucopia awarded one Michelin star within two months of opening
Clare Smyth impact on British fine dining
Smyth’s influence operates on two levels. The first is technical: she proved that British ingredients, cooked with classical French precision, can hold their own at the very top of the Michelin hierarchy without importing luxury produce or borrowing from other cuisines. That argument has since been picked up by chefs across the UK.
The second is structural. As the first British woman with three stars in the UK, she became a reference point for an industry that still skews heavily male at the top. She is deliberate about mentoring women at sous chef level and refuses to treat gender-specific awards as anything other than temporary scaffolding until the balance corrects itself.
Her career trajectory puts her in a lineage of chefs who trained under Alain Passard-generation fine-dining masters and then built something distinct. In terms of contemporary peers working at the same level, she fits into the conversation alongside Dominique Crenn in San Francisco and René Redzepi in Copenhagen, chefs who built their own philosophical platform after learning from legacy kitchens.
Clare Smyth FAQ
How many Michelin stars does Clare Smyth have?
Three Michelin stars at Core by Clare Smyth in London (awarded 2021) and one Michelin star at Corenucopia in Chelsea (awarded 2026). Oncore in Sydney holds three Hats in the Australian Good Food Guide system.
Where is Clare Smyth from?
She grew up on a farm in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, and moved to England at the age of 16 to train as a chef.
Who did Clare Smyth train under?
She spent 13 years at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, becoming head chef in 2007 and chef-patron in 2012. She also worked at Alain Ducasse’s Le Louis XV in Monaco and staged at Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry and Per Se.
Did Clare Smyth cook for the royal wedding?
Yes. She catered the private reception for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018, the same year Core received its second Michelin star.
What is Clare Smyth’s most famous dish?
“Potato and Roe” at Core: a slow-cooked Jersey Royal potato with dulse butter and trout or herring roe. It has been on the menu since Core opened in 2017 and is the dish most associated with her cooking.
What is next for Clare Smyth
Corenucopia’s rapid first Michelin star in 2026 suggests Smyth is in an expansion phase rather than a consolidation phase. Oncore in Sydney is reportedly relocating within Australia as part of her continued international growth, and she spent 2025 on a high-profile collaboration with Dom Pérignon called “Creation is an Eternal Journey”. Her official website (claresmyth.com) is the best place to track what comes next.
