Birthday: 28 February 1971
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Sat Bains was born on the 28 February 1971 in Derbyshire to his Sikh parents who had recently moved to the UK. Despite cooking later being his calling, Sat (or Satwant, as his family formally named him) kick-started his career as a paper boy. This, it turned out, got old quickly and he soon settled into his studies at Derby College. It was here he undertook a City & Guilds catering qualifications, apparently only choosing it thanks to the large cohort of woman who would also be attending.
On finishing his course, Sat secured a job at a local restaurant, and after reading Marco Pierre White’s book White Heat, Sat was then encouraged to pursue a career in fine dining. After sending out a slew of CVs he was taken on by Raymond Blank alongside seventeen other chefs to open Le Petit Blank in Oxford, in 1996. Following this he worked at L’Escargot in London for three months before moving home to Nottingham. It was here that he applied for the Roux Scholarship. At this he was up against top chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, but managed to pip him to the post to win the competition which enabled him travel to France to undertake a stage at three Michelin starred Le Jardin des Sens.
In 2002 he launched his Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms in Nottingham, a restaurant which went on to win a Michelin star in 2013 (and became the first place in Nottingham to hold such an accolade).
Having since worked alongside chefs such as Tom Kitchin and Daniel Clifford at various pop ups and events, Sat Bains has also been bestowed many awards. In 2009 he was named Restaurant’s Chef’s Chef of the Year, while Which? Good Food Guide named him Chef of the Year in 2011. The University of Derby gave Bains an honoury degree and he also holds an honoury Master of Arts from Nottingham University, which he received in 2012. Finally, he was awarded the Chef Award at the 2015 The Cate Awards, which celebrate people in the hospitality industry.
Sat is married to his childhood sweetheart Amanda, who manages all the interior décor of his premises.