keith floyd

Born in Somerset in 1943, Keith has to date written more than 25 books and presented about 20 television series, all of which have captured viewers with his special brand of humour.

After leaving Somerset, Floyd set off to become a journalist in Bristol, but soon after watching the film 'Zulu', decided he wanted to join the army. He became a 2nd lieutenant in the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment in Germany. It was during this time in the army that Floyd began to experiment with food, after persuading the officer's mess cook to let him do so, and served up for the officer's mess table 'Gigot d'agneau Romarin' - a far cry from the usual roast lamb and two veg affair.

Soon after leaving the army he worked behind the scenes in restaurants in London and France, as a barman, dishwasher, vegetable peeler and more. By 1971, Floyd owned three restaurants which he eventually sold, leaving them behind for two years while he sailed the Mediterranean seas with two friends on a boat named 'Flirty'.

In France, he exported wine to the UK before opening a restaurant near Avignon. In 1991 he bought Floyd's Inn in Tuckenhay, Devon, which he sold in 1996 before moving to Kinsale in Ireland. Floyd made another move just one year later, to Marbella in Spain, and another in 2000 to the south of France, where he now resides.

It was thanks to a chance meeting in 1984 with a television producer in his Bristol bistro that led to his first television programme - 'Floyd on Fish', which was just ten minutes long. Shortly after, the BBC rang and offered him his first seven-part series of the same name.

To date, Floyd has restaurants in Britain, France, and Spain, with his newest opening in Thailand. He also presents his own cookery theatre at the Linthwaite House Hotel in the Lake District, demonstrating varieties of his culinary world, including French Provincial cooking, fish and shellfish, British, and Mediterranean cooking.