James Tanner - Early Life

Early Life

Tanner began his catering career, preparing salads and starters, in "Brookers Oast" a Whitbread Brewers Fayre in Kent in the early 1990s After studying hotel management he worked in the kitchens of several restaurants, often with his older brother, fellow celebrity chef Chris Tanner. He worked his way up through the ranks until he was invited by the Roux brothers, Michel and Albert, to move to the US and work in upstate New York, where he was Chef de partie at the Lake Placid Lodge. Within four months he was promoted to junior Sous-chef.

He worked his way up the ranks and on returning to England took a job under Martin Blunos at the two Michelin-starred restaurant Lettonie in Bath before a Head Chef role at Right on the Green in Kent.

In 1999, aged 23, Tanner and his brother opened "Tanners Restaurant" in Plymouth.

In Spring 2006 Tanner and his brother opened a second restaurant in Plymouth. The Barbican Kitchen is a brasserie sited within the Plymouth Gin Distillery, a 500 year old building in the heart of Plymouth's oldest area, The Barbican. In April 2011, the Tanner brothers opened "The Kitchen Cafe" alongside The Barbican Kitchen, which serves snack style foods as an offshoot from the brasserie style Barbican Kitchen.