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Thomasina Miers
OBE
Miers in 2021
BornFebruary 1976 (age 48)
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
EducationSt Paul's Girls' School
Alma materBallymaloe Cookery School
Occupation(s)cook, writer and television presenter
Known forFounder of Wahaca
Winner of UK Masterchef (2005)
SpouseMark Williams
Children3 daughters
Wahaca, Covent Garden, 2008
Wahaca mobile street kitchen, 2012

Thomasina Jean Miers, OBE (born February 1976) is an English cook, writer and television presenter. She is the co-founder of the Wahaca chain of Mexican street food restaurants.

Early life

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Thomasina Jean Miers was born in February 1976 in Cheltenham,[1] the daughter of (Michael) Probyn Miers, a joiner and furniture maker,[2] formerly a management consultant[3][4] and Niki Miers, of Guiting Power, Cheltenham.[5][6] She grew up in "a big rambling house" at Acton, West London.[7] The Miers family, landed gentry originally of Aldingham, Cumbria (then in Lancashire), owned the Ynyspenllwch estate in Glamorganshire until the time of her grandfather, Cmdr Richard Eustace Probyn Miers, RN.[8] Miers has a twin brother, Dighton, and a sister, Talulah.[9][7]

She was schooled at St Paul's Girls' School, studied modern languages at the University of Edinburgh and studied at Ballymaloe Cookery School. She worked as a freelance cook and writer, with influences from time spent in Mexico.[10][11]

Career

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In 2005, Miers won the BBC TV cookery competition MasterChef, "impressing judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace with her bold and, at times, eccentric cooking style".[12]

She has made two series of cookery programmes for Channel 4 with co-presenter Guy Grieve: Wild Gourmets[13] in 2007 and A Cook's Tour of Spain in 2008.[14] In 2011, she presented Mexican Food Made Simple for Channel 5.[15]

She is co-editor with Annabel Buckingham of the cookbook Soup Kitchen (with an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall). She has also written Cook: Smart Seasonal Recipes for Hungry People,[16] The Wild Gourmets: Adventures in Food and Freedom, with Guy Grieve,[17] and Mexican Food Made Simple.[18]

Miers co-founded Wahaca, which became a chain of Mexican "street food" restaurants, alongside Mark Selby in 2006.[19] The company opened its first restaurant in London's Covent Garden in August 2007[20] and in October 2008 a second opened at Westfield London.[21] Wahaca launched their first mobile kitchen in 2011, selling Mexican street food on the streets of London.[22] By the end of 2017 Wahaca had 25 branches,[23] and in January 2021 there were 13.[24]

Personal life

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Miers is married to Mark Williams, a fund manager at Liontrust Asset Management[25] and they have three daughters.[5][26]

In January 2019, Miers was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the food industry; she received the honour from the Duke of Cambridge later in the year at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace.[27]

Books

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  • The Wild Gourmets: Adventures in Food and Freedom (3 September 2007) ISBN 9780747591573 co-author Guy Grieve
  • Wahaca – Mexican Food Made Simple (4 March 2010) ISBN 9780340994979
  • Wahaca – Mexican Food at Home (21 June 2012) ISBN 9781444722390
  • Chilli Notes (8 May 2014) ISBN 9781444776881
  • Cantina: Recipes from a Mexican Kitchen (1 November 2014) ISBN 978-1742703992
  • Home Cook (2 March 2017) ISBN 9781783350964
  • Meat-Free Mexican (5 May 2022) ISBN 9781529371840

References

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  1. ^ "The Independent: "My Secret Life: Thomasina Miers, chef & food broadcaster"". Independent.co.uk. 17 November 2007. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  2. ^ Elliot, Liz (3 January 2017). "An Artist's Cosy 18th-Century Barn". House & Garden. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  3. ^ "MR MICHAEL PROBYN MIERS director information". Company Check. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Mr Michael Probyn Miers – Director Profile". Endole. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  5. ^ a b "The Telegraph.co.uk: Engagement Announcements". Announcements.telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  6. ^ Cheltenham-born chef, founder of Wahaca Mexican restaurant chain
  7. ^ a b "My secret life: Thomasina Miers". The Independent. 13 June 2009. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  8. ^ Burke's Landed Gentry, eighteenth edition, vol. 2, 1969, p. 433, "Miers formerly of Ynyspenllwch" pedigree
  9. ^ Higgins, Ria (2 November 2014). "A Life in the Day: Thomasina Miers, MasterChef winner turned restaurateur". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  10. ^ "Thomasina Miers". radiorelations.co.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Miers masters the top notes". pressandjournal.co.uk. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Thomasina Miers". waterstones.com. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Wild Gourmets". Channel 4. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  14. ^ "A Cook's Tour of Spain". Channel 4. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  15. ^ "Mexican Food Made Simple". Channel 5. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  16. ^ HarperCollins, 2005, ISBN 0-00-722937-2
  17. ^ Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7475-9157-3
  18. ^ Hodder, 2010, ISBN 978-0-340-99497-9
  19. ^ Campbell, Scott (7 May 2014). "Wahaca owner's recipe for success". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  20. ^ "Wahaca". Caterersearch. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  21. ^ "Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers to launch second Wahaca". Caterersearch. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  22. ^ Wahaca Mexican restaurant chain
  23. ^ "Locations". Wahaca. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017.
  24. ^ "Locations – Wahaca". Wahaca. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  25. ^ "The Asia team – Who we are – Liontrust Asset Management PLC". www.liontrust.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  26. ^ Urwin, Rosamund (30 January 2017). "Wahaca co-founder Thomasina Miers on Donald Trump, tacos and norovirus". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  27. ^ "Cosmopolitan fan William presents OBE to former editor-in-chief". East Lothian Courier. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
[edit]
Preceded by
Rosa Baden-Powell
 Masterchef UK champion
2005 		Succeeded by
Peter Bayless
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