the naked chef takes off

While Jamie was working at the River Café, a TV crew was filming a documentary about the restaurant. The editors decided to show a lot of the cheeky kid who was so into the cooking that he'd answer back to the crew. The day after the program aired, Jamie got calls from five production companies all wanting to talk about a possible show. He couldn't believe it and thought it was his mates playing a joke!

In the end, Jamie accepted an offer from Optomen Television. The idea behind The Naked Chef was to strip food down to its bare essentials - to prove that you didn't need to dress up ingredients or buy a load of fancy gadgets to make something really tasty. Despite his grandmother’s worries, it definitely didn't mean that Jamie was cooking in the nude!

This show is packed full of sociable food to be enjoyed at home with family and friends – real food for real occasions.
It also generated Jamie’s very first book. He’d always wanted to write a book, though he doubted his old English teacher would believe it.
The show ran for a further two series and Jamie wrote a book to go with each one, then he had the idea for Jamie’s Kitchen and things changed direction a little.
Series 1
• 6 x 30-minute episodes, plus a Christmas party special
• first aired: USA, The Food Network , 2000
The Naked Chef book launched in October 2000

Series 2
• 9 x 30-minute episodes
• first aired: USA, The Food Network, 2001
Happy Days with the Naked Chef book launched in October 2002
Series 3
• 8 x 30-minute episodes
• first aired: USA, Food Network, 2001
The Naked Chef Takes Off book launched in August 2005