Frances Atkins

Frances Venning was born in Maidstone, Kent, but grew up in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.[1][2] Her father had served in the Royal Engineers during the Second World War. He was involved in the creation of the portable Mulberry harbours used during the D-Day landings.[3] Frances trained in hotel management at Bradford College, and went on to work at The Box Tree restaurant in Ilkley.[4] She moved to Scotland to work at Dalhousie Castle,[1] and then Denmark to work in different kitchens. When she was 23, she met and married her first husband, George Carman QC.[4]

For the following 10 years, Frances did not work as her husband felt that women should not. She later called the marriage "a disaster",[4] and after they divorced in 1984,[1] she started to work as a cook in a pub and then began a catering company.[2] This proved successful and she opened a cafe, and met her second husband, Bill Atkins. Together, they closed the cafe and opened Atkins Restaurant.[4] During this period, she would close the restaurant on Sundays and go to visit Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, who she later called a "huge mentor".[1]

Atkins then left to run the Old Plow in Speen, Buckinghamshire, and then opened the Farleyer House in Scotland. It was there that she was awarded a Bib Gourmand award in the Michelin Guide. Sir Neil Shaw, the chairman of Tate & Lyle then asked her to open a restaurant with his backing. Shaw's Restaurant opened under Atkins in 1993, but after three years she wanted to move back to Yorkshire.[2] In 1997, they purchased the Yorke Arms in Ramsgill.[5] The pub was already known for good food, and Atkins initially wanted to keep the menu simple. However, she worked on the menu and was awarded a Michelin star in 2003.[4] This was the first time a female British chef had won the accolade.[6] She appeared on BBC Two television series Great British Menu in 2014, where her dishes paid tribute to her father.[3] While Atkins worked as head chef, her husband ran the business side of the restaurant. The couple decided to put the restaurant up for sale in 2017 for £1.75 million, as Bill was looking to retire.[4][6]

Yorke Arms lost its Michelin star in October 2019 but then earned its third rosette from AA plc in February 2020. Yorke Arms has been closed as a restaurant since July 2020 amid COVID-19 pandemic and planned to be reopened as a private country house for hire.[7] Atkins launched a catering project Paradise Food with her two former Yorke Arms colleagues[8] of over 20 years, chef Roger Olive and manager John Tullett.[5]