Aiden Byrne (born 1972[3]) is an English chef, best known as the owner of a number of establishments including The Collingwood, a bar and restaurant in West Kirby.[4]
At Adlards in Norwich, by age 22, Byrne was the youngest chef to win a Michelin star.[2] He worked at a number of Michelin-starred establishments. At Danesfield House and Spa,[10] near Marlow, Buckinghamshire, he was Executive Chef of the Oak Room and The Orangery Restaurants.[11] Before this, he spent two years as Head Chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Tom Aikens.[8] Byrne previously worked with Tom Aikens at the Pied à Terre restaurant as a sous chef.[12] He appeared on the television programme MasterChef in 2008.[13]
His first book, Made in Great Britain, was released in September 2008, along with a video podcast series of the same name based on the book, produced by pod3.tv.[14]
In 2013/14, Byrne opened a new restaurant in the city of Manchester called Manchester House, which cost around £3 million to create. Byrne's journey to opening this restaurant was featured in a three-part series for BBC Two called Restaurant Wars: The Battle for Manchester which was aired on the channel throughout April 2014. The other restaurant featured in the series was The French, opened by Simon Rogan around the same time as ManchesterHouse.
Each year Byrne elects a charity for his restaurants to support. In 2013, the charity was Brainwave. One event which he held for this charity was gourmet evening which raised £4,380 for this cause.[15] He has previously supported the 'Movember' appeal as well as The Prince's Trust charity.
