Richard Till - "TV personality, author and keen foodie"

Richard Till grew up in Christchurch and Dunedin in New Zealand. He developed an interest in food from a young age by watching his mother deal with everyday meals, 'filling the tins' and being a hostess for 'important' people.

In his early twenties he worked as a set builder and painter for several years. It was then that he first entered the restaurant industry, working nights in restaurants, first as a waiter, then as 'the cook'.

In 1988 he opened Espresso 124, the first restaurant on what was to become Christchurch's 'the strip', a small section of road that is today lined with over ten restaurants. He went on to set up a second restaurant, The Worcester Street Dining Room.  During his time in the restaurant industry he's cooked for Stevie Wonder, U2, Miles Davis, Simply Red, Jimmy Barnes, New Order, the English cricket team, and thousands upon thousands of kiwis.

Since 2002 he has performed the comic cooking shows 'Just Dick it' and 'Dick Does Dinner' at festivals around the country. Today he works as a Technical Director and Designer of Theatre at the Department of Theatre and Film Studies at the University of Canterbury. He writes regularly for 'Zest', the food and fashion section of The Press, and can be heard on National Radio Nine till Noon's 'Sounds Delicious'.

Richard also can claim to be an award winner. The first season of Kiwi Kitchen won The Ocean Spray Electronic Media Award from the NZ Guild of Food Writers saying the show "celebrated food, through wonderful people, characters and the revitalising of recipes discovered." The judges described the winning entry as "engaging, humorous and very real".