Chef Nina Matsunaga Wiki, Age, Great British Menu, Husband, Partner, Married, Parents, Family, Nationality

Nina Matsunaga Biography – Nina Matsunaga Wiki

Nina Matsunaga is head chef and co-owner of The Black Bull based in Sedbergh. She is set to appear on the BBC’s Great British Menu 2024.

Born in Germany to Japanese parents, Nina Matsunaga showed a genuine interest in food from a young age, baking with her mother. At the age of 18, Nina relocated from Dusseldorf to London to study Culinary Arts Management at Thames Valley University. By the age of 21, she moved back to live with her parents in Germany, where she worked at a friend’s bakery and delivered courses at a leading cookery school.

Nina made a trip back to the UK, to Manchester, where she fully embraced the thriving local food scene and honed her skills at Trove, before setting up her own street food and event catering business called The Moocher with her partner James Ratcliffe.

The pair made the move to Sedbergh in 2014 and opened their first eatery, The Three Hares, which won a host of accolades and appeared in the Good Food Guide.

Nina is the head chef at The Black Bull based in Sedbergh. Coming from a multicultural background, Nina’s food at The Black Bull celebrates the best of British ingredients, while taking inspiration from Japanese, German, and Modern European cuisines.

Nina uses the best local and seasonal ingredients from the landscape around her restaurant to create flavourful pan-Asian and German-inspired dishes. She also loves taking the time to forage for some of those ingredients with her family.

The Black Bull holds two AA Rosettes and is a UK Top 50 Gastropub. Nina recently received the Craft Guild of Chefs Award for ‘Best Pub Chef,’ and was also a finalist in the Great British Pub Awards for ‘Best Country/Rural Pub’ and ‘Best Chef.’

Nina Matsunaga Age

The Black Bull head chef Nina Matsunaga was born in February 1987 in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Nina Matsunaga Parents

Head chef Nina Matsunaga was born in Dusseldorf, Germany, to Japanese parents. Her father worked at a Japanese electronics company in Düsseldorf. Her mother was a florist who taught and published books about Japanese flower arranging.

“I told my parents I wanted to become a zookeeper or a chef. They weren’t happy about either – about the prospect of me not having a degree, or shovelling poop all day,” she told BBC Good Food.

She added: “Dad worked at a Japanese electronics company in Düsseldorf. There was a Japanese district where you could shop and socialise without ever speaking German, but mum – a florist who taught and published books about Japanese flower arranging – learned German and tried to fit in.”

Nina Matsunaga Husband

Chef Nina Matsunaga is married to her husband James Ratcliffe, the co-owner of The Black Bull in Cumbria. They also own and run the eatery, The Three Hares, in Sedbergh.

Nina and James have a simple food ethos and that is to use only the best seasonal ingredients available from what they refer to as the neck of Britain, the counties of Yorkshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland, Durham, Derbyshire and Cheshire.

Nina Matsunaga Family

Great British Menu chef Nina Matsunaga and her husband, James Ratcliffe, have a son, Ernest.

Nina Matsunaga Great British Menu

36-year-old Nina Matsunaga is a contestant on Series 19 of the Great British Menu on BBC Two. She features as one of four chefs representing the North West of England in the regional heats alongside Andrew Sheridan, Kirk Haworth and Ryan Stafford.

Nina told Cumbria Crack: “I’ve thought about taking part in Great British Menu for quite a few years now, but I never thought I would find the courage to apply.

“This year I felt I should push myself beyond my comfort zone, and although a challenge it was an exceptional experience competing alongside some very talented chefs. It was an honour to represent the North West which has a rich culinary tapestry, with some of the greatest produce.

“This year’s theme was pretty interesting and threw up a few challenges and really made me think, so we’ll just have to see how things go and where I end up in the competition.”

The show has a theme each year and this year it is celebrating Britain’s success in the Olympics and Paralympics. It will come to a head at an event hosted by the British Ambassador to France for Team GB wishing the country’s athletes good luck as they prepare for Paris 2024.

Her menu celebrates several Olympic sports, and showcases her cooking style.

Nina Matsunaga Nationality

She is of German nationality.

Nina Matsunaga Ethnicity

She is of Japanese heritage.

Instagram

Nina Matsunaga’s Instagram handle is @ninamatsunaga.