Charlie has cooked for as long as he can remember. Coming from a family of keen cooks, he took inspiration at home from his mum and grandparents, then began working at Yalbury Cottage, a small BnB restaurant near Dorchester in Dorset, at the age of 14 - initially washing up, but was soon given the chance to get involved with cooking. “I would really describe my career as a step-by-step process” says Charlie. “From 16 to 18 I worked in Dorset doing my apprenticeship, and then moved to London when I had just turned 18 and started at The Dorchester. I began in The Grill and it was a huge change, moving from a small kitchen with 20 covers to a large busy kitchen with chefs of all nationalities”.

After a year, Charlie moved to the acclaimed Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, the world-famous three-Michelin-star restaurant and has been there ever since. “It was a whole new experience again” says Charlie, “right down to cutting an onion, everything had to be done in a set way, everything had to be perfect”.

After 5 years working his way up in the three-star kitchen, chef Charlie Jeffreys appeared on BBC’s MasterChef: The Professionals in 2022.
Dorset roots, he’s also fond of cooking with fish and says the fish section is his favourite section at work. “I love fishing, I love the sea, I love fish” says Charlie. “I love catching it, I love cooking it, I love eating it”. Charlie is now currently working on a really exciting new project.