Paul Rankin

Paul Rankin changed the face of culinary Northern Ireland when he opened Roscoff, the restaurant that was to become the first to win a Michelin Star in the country. In 2018, Paul moved to Scotland and became the Chef/Patron of the famous Stein Inn, in Waternish, Isle of Skye in the Hebrides.

Paul is best known for being one of the longest standing and most successful
chefs on Ready Steady Cook which regularly pulled in nearly 3 million viewers.

Since 2011 Paul has presented Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip, with fellow chef Nick Nairn, traveling around the coasts of Northern Ireland and Scotland by boat to explore their Ulster-Scots culinary heritage.

The third and fourth series were filmed in the USA, following the trail of Ulster-Scots settlers who sailed to the New World three hundred years ago. Paul and Nick’s Big American Food Trip was shown on UTV and STV as well as internationally including on Asian Food Channel and Canada’s GustoTV. The fifth series, Paul and Nick’s Big Canadian Food Trip, aired in March 2017 on UTV in Northern Ireland and STV in Scotland.

He has also appeared on Step up to the Plate (BBC1), Local Food Heroes (UKTV), Saturday Kitchen (BBC1), Ten Mile
Menu (ITV1), and Celebrity X Factor (ITV1) as one of ‘The Chefs’; the group were so popular that they made it to
the final stages of the competition. Paul has had several of his own series, including The Rankin Challenge, which
won two coveted Glenfiddich awards, and Gourmet Ireland (BBC1) which was also transmitted on the PBS network
in the USA and the accompanying book was published by KQED (USA). The series has also been sold to SBS in
Australia, TVB in Hong Kong, TVNZ Pacific and TV2 in New Zealand, and CBET Windsor in Canada. In 2013 Paul
appeared in Chefs: Put Your Menu Where Your Mouth Is, and on BBC One’s Pointless Celebrities in 2014 and 2015.
In 2014 he appeared in three episodes of Win It Cook It on Channel 4, and as a panellist on BBC Two’s The Great
British Bake Off: An Extra Slice. He is a regular guest chef on BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen.
As a successful cookery author, Paul’s books include New Irish Cookery, Dublin Dining, Hot Food, Gourmet Ireland,
and Gourmet Ireland Two, as well as contributions to books for BBC programmes Ready Steady Cook, and Saturday
Kitchen.

In 2005 he was asked to overhaul the menus at a Belfast care home for the elderly and his enthusiasm for this
cause has led to him addressing conferences and events for care industry professionals and a Tonight with Trevor
McDonald special programme for ITV1 in which Paul was heavily featured. Paul is an ambassador and consultant
for Sodexo’s education programme, inspiring healthy eating and cookery skills among children in UK schools.
Paul has a range of traditional Irish breads ‘Rankin Selection’ www.rankinselection.com, launched in 2002 through
a partnership with Irwin’s Bakery.

The phenomenal success of the breads in UK supermarkets inspired Paul to develop the brand further, and in 2004 he launched an Irish sausage range, expanding it with partner company
Finnebrogue in 2009, and winning a Great Taste Gold award in 2010.

Paul has been a friend of our festival for years and we can’t wait to see him on our chef demo stage once again on Sunday 31st March 2024.