Ricky grew up in London’s Bethnal Green with his Venezuelan born chef father who was raised in Trinidad and Tobago, and Irish mother. He was brought up on “proper home cooked food made from scratch” and when Ricky decided to go to college to train as a chef, his father tried to talk him out of it. After some gruelling training in London, Ricky worked under the Roux Brothers and at Langan’s Brasserie before moving to the North of England, with his chef wife Emma. They settled in Whitehaven, Cumbria and, after much hard work, grew two successful restaurants which now employ 60 members of staff. ‘Zest Harbourside’ is a lively bar café overlooking the harbour while ‘Zest Restaurant’ serves modern British cuisine using local produce. Ricky is equally comfortable cooking classical French cuisine in a restaurant kitchen as he is throwing together whatever’s to hand and cooking it over a campfire.

Ricky’s TV career started when he appeared on ITV Border’s series “Raw Chefs”. His episode won an RTS award and he soon was given his own 6 part series called “A Taste for the Road” where he toured the local region on his beloved motorbike showcasing local produce. Ricky has recently filmed 20 short films on “Superfoods” for Yahoo and 15 episodes of the new ITV1 daytime series “Star Treatment”. Ricky regularly appeared “Market Kitchen” on Good Food Channel and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio Cumbria. Ricky is currently filming reports for BBC1’s The One Show

Since filming the original series of Taste for the Road, Ricky lost 3.5 stones and has gained a unique perspective on cooking good but healthy food. He challenged himself as a chef to created great tasting food that is also kind on the waist and hips! Ricky has a real enthusiasm for exercise and has become a keen mountain biker and open water swimmer and regularly takes part in events including The Lake Windermere 10.5 mile event. Ricky now sports a huggable but healthy figure.

Ricky has been involved in the Cumbria Rural Regeneration Scheme and has been hosting presentations to Head Teachers and School Chefs encouraging them to educate their pupils about healthy eating. He is a regular live presenter and food festivals and events hosting demos and food talks.

Please click on link below to view Superfoods films
http://www.zestwhitehaven.com/page/harbourside/demos#.U-3i2mMguB5

Superfoods taster
https://youtu.be/JKpJR2_eesQ