The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Royals, actors, TV hosts and gangsters... chef lifts lid on cooking for celebs
For Inverness-born private chef James Steele, the world was his kitchen. After training at Inverness Technical College, James jetted off to Canada to work at a luxury hotel.
From there, his CV reads like a rock star’s diary.
A stint at a fancy hotel in London, then the Bahamas. Then a VIP club in Russia.
There were a couple of jobs working at Balmoral Castle.
Then a year spent cruising the Caribbean and Mediterranean on the yacht of billionaire Christopher Matthews.
Throughout his time as a chef, James has worked for everyone from movie stars to royalty.
But the year he spent working for a Russian gangster was particularly memorable.
The Moscow club attracted a catalogue of characters – rich, powerful and famous.
James recalled one night in a Moscow hotel he was having drinks with an American journalist, who asked where he worked.
After James told him, the journalist warned: “Be careful that club is run by one of the most notorious gangsters in Moscow.
James said: “I know, he’s my boss. I just kept my head down.’”
It was a unique environment.
He added: “There were metal detectors at the entrance way to the club and the kitchen.”
One tense night, a swarm of burly men in suits came in to search the club.
Thirty minutes later, Russian president Boris Yeltsin walked in.
James said: “I saw him from a distance, I mainly fed his bodyguards.
“But he had something ridiculous, like a ham and cheese toastie, and his
bodyguards just had a steak.
“But you could see they’ve got a rifle the length of their body. And they’ve also got shoulder guns.”
Working for billionaire Mr Matthews saw James take a pivot in his career.
After years working as a chef in hotels on several continents, he spent a decade cooking food in the homes of the rich and famous, working as a private chef.
Some of his high-profile diners included actress Sienna Miller, actress and model Cara Delevingne and television presenter
Eamonn Holmes. But the highlight of his whirlwind career was the time he spent with the late radio host Terry Wogan.
After being connected by a mutual acquaintance, James started working for the broadcaster as a private chef, both at his home in Maidenhead and his house in southern France.
The presenter “knew his food”, James says, with seafood being his favourite – scallops, lobster and langoustines – while Beef Wellington was also a popular request.
James said he became
friends with the radio host over his year of working for him.
He added: “He’s in his pyjamas, he said, ‘Helen’s not down for another hour, go and open a bottle of wine and come and have a blether with me.’
“He says, ‘Jim, it’s Terry and Helen, relax, make yourself at home.
“You can have a Coca-Cola if you like. Sit down.
“I sat watching the football with him in his crocs. You couldn’t make it up.”
James said it hit him hard when Terry died in
2016. He added: “He was one of the nicest people I’ve ever come across.
“A family man, a beautiful family. All he did for charity... A fantastic sense of humour, just a lovely person. A joy to be in his company.”
James has kept various mementos from throughout his career.
One of his most treasured is a signed note Terry wrote, thanking him for his cooking and company.
He said: “He was a gentleman. That reference he wrote me brings a tear to my eye”.