This is my second attempt - the first one disappeared.

Jamie Oliver was recently voted Best British Iconic chef, 2nd Delia Smith, 3rd Gordon Ramsay, 4th Rick Stein, 5th Hugh Ferneigh Whittingstall, 6th James martin, 7th Nigella Lawson. Do you agree with this?

This would be my choice: Equal first JO, JM, 2nd Gino, 3rd Rick Stein, 4th Beefy and Lamby (I love those adverts), 5th James Tanner, 6th Mike Robinson.

what would yours be?

1st= Deliah & Rick
3rd. Keith Floyd
4th. Two Fat Ladies
5th. Rhodes (pre-ego)

Keith Floyd, Rick Stein,Delia Smith, Gary Rhodes, James Martin, Nigella Lawson, Gordon Ramsay, James Oliver etc. etc.

This is silly.

It seems to be more a list of iconic TV food personalities rather than chefs. Is that all that's important anymore? Celebrity? Sickening.

Nigella isn't even a chef, so how can she be an iconic one?

How about those unsung chefs with two or three stars that work day in and day out but aren't on TV? I bet they are better chefs in many ways - albeit not iconic.

Vyvian - your post made a lot of sense...I nver thought of it that way.

"How about those unsung chefs with two or three stars that work day in and day out but aren't on TV? I bet they are better chefs in many ways - albeit not iconic." - so true & on this note I would like to add Marcus Wareing - both (semi) celebrity & full time working chef!

What happened to the other thread. As I said in my other post Delia & Nigella are not chefs.

1. Nigella 2. Jamie 3 James 4 Delia 5 Rick 6 Gordon 7 Hugh

if we are chosing the same names that is.

If not it would be

1 Nigella 2 Tamasin Day Lewis 3 Rosemary 4 Jamie 5 James 6 Claire MacDonald 7 Nigel Slater

Chef's only 1. Jamie 2. James 3. Jean C Novelli (not British I know but always here) 4 Marco Pierre White 5 Arthur Potts Dawson 6 Atul Kutcher

The word "Iconic" is the latest BBC buzz-word - Iconic Gherkin and all that (very Freudian ;-o )

If selecting the most dynamic, serious chef, of the last 25 years, then I would have thought Marco Pierre White was the man to choose, because of his achievements and awards, and influence on some of the celeb cooks we see on TV today.

JO may well be the most popular face cooking on TV, but I wouldn't have thought the two things are the same - personally speaking

I thought Nigella was a "domestic goddess"? Surely the word Chef refers to a professional cook, i.e. a role in an organisation, rather than just what someone does with food?

Tamasin present herself as a 'housewife/ family cook' - often having a bad hair day, and usually 'loving' or 'hating' something or other.

Rosemary is nearer to a chef: but I find her almost military attitude a bit of a turn-off. I think she might upset more kitchen staff than run a smooth commercial kitchen.

One of the few chefs who looks to me as if he could turn his hand to a busy day in a commercial kitchen, and manage staff efficiently, is James Tanner - I think he comes over as a true professional.

I always smile when the TV chefs go with a camera crew into their own commercial kitchens during working hours – the staff usually look well put out and the expressions suggest they wish their celeb bosses would just push off and let them get on with the job.

Yes I too think Marco could have had the number one spot or at least been in the top 7. Its all about who is on TV these days, especially at the time of the poll. If he had been on TV a lot more in the last 5 years he probably would have been. Maybe he will be in future polls if he continues with a TV presence.

I agree that it must be very annoying for the chefs who have to put food on tables when the TV chef is in the way making a lot of mess and mithering for things.

Grissini, you are so right. Because MArco is not being overexposed as a celebrity now, he's not even mentioned. Stupid.

Isn't Marco's Hells Kitchen considered a flop? I heard that they cancelled it in the US after 4 episodes. No one was watching?

Perhps this is why he was ignored as a "Iconic" chef. He's not enough of a "Celebrity".

Really, he's the genesis of much of today's modern British cooking talent.

Thanks schmaltz1.

Am I correct in thinking that this list was comprised by Olive magazine readers only. Therefore this survey is only representative of its readers.

A larger survey which includes people in the food industry may provide a different result.

I think you are spot on there Grisinni.

MPW was the youngest chef in the world to obtain 3 Michelin stars when he achieved them, and he was voted chef's Chef of the decade in 2000 by his peers.

But then if it comes to a popularity contest with the general public, then I can see that he might not feature so highly. Plus, I believe he now refers to himself as 'retired' from the world of professional cooking.

Thank you too gastrosurf

Here's hoping we see more of Marco out and about in one form or another.