Meet the Sociology alumna turned history-making TV chef

Newcastle graduate doing it for the girls in the Great British Menu hall of fame

Kate Austen graduated from Newcastle University in 2015 not sure what to do next, but with a passion for food and the way it connects people. Fast-forward to today, she has transformed from a new graduate with no professional culinary experience to an accomplished chef of Michelin star quality – worthy to feature alongside the likes of Tom Kerridge to cook the main course at the Great British Menu banquet!

In the 2024 series of BBC Two’s long-standing cooking competition, Kate made history when she became the first female chef to ever cook the main course at the revered Great British Menu banquet, joining a hall of fame which also included Marcus Wareing, Richard Corrigan and Tom Kerridge (twice!) Her dish, which honoured Team GB Olympian and Paralympians, was named "Symposium" and included stuffed quail, truffle French toast and a scotch egg.

With this year’s Great British Menu banquet being broadcast on BBC Two tonight, we caught up with Kate to look back at her time on campus and find out how her tenacious attitude has helped her succeed in a notoriously cut-throat industry.

Kind people, a good balance of activities, and a real hum for student life: the perfect university recipe

I left school with no real direction of what I wanted to do, and no glaringly obvious talent. Times have changed slightly, but when I was figuring out the future, a degree from a Russell Group university was encouraged as instrumental to your successes. I spent a long time finding a course and subject that would allow me to read the things I enjoyed and explore the passions I had. A course that dealt with people and real life cases - I landed on Sociology. Newcastle I knew was prestigious, but had a reputation of kind people, a good balance of activities, and a real hum for student life. It is all those things and more.

I started in Castle Leazes; the taste of jacket potatoes, beans and cheese at the 4pm supper time and the halls shop has still not left me! Then I moved to Jesmond with four other girls for second and third year. I don't want to pigeonhole myself, but we were thrilled to have one of the two houses in Jesmond with an Aga. In hindsight, and considering the career I had after that, maybe an Aga wasn't the most useful thing for me!

I love the outdoors, and exercise is a huge part of my life, so I enjoyed running through the Dene, especially when all the wild garlic and bluebells were out. And we frequented Wagamama once a week – if not more! The chilli squid was a fiver, and ginger chicken udon seven quid – very manageable on a student budget. I’m not sure it’s those prices now!

Alongside my studies, I worked with a charity called Forward Assist, a support network for ex-military people who had struggled to get back into society after leaving the army. I used to go to their digs once a week and cook with them, eating lunch together. At that point, I had no idea that I would carve out a career in food, but it was clearly something that was important to me because it felt like a way of connecting and helping.

I have always had the utmost respect for the military, no doubt exaggerated by my father being in the Green Jackets. I think I would have also enjoyed being in it if my life hadn’t panned out as it has.

At that point, I had no idea that I would carve out a career in food, but it was clearly something that was important to me because it felt like a way of connecting and helping.

Kate in the Great British Menu kitchen with TV presenter Andi Oliver

Some sacrifice, a big chunk of hard work… and a pinch of luck

After graduating, I once again didn’t know what I wanted to do, nor was I demonstrating a talent or huge interest in something. I did know that an office life wasn’t for me – I wanted to be on my feet, moving, running about.

I came from a family of good food and relished in the memories and enjoyment it created. One day I just walked into the local Michelin restaurant in Norfolk – and the rest is history.

At 25, I was the youngest female head chef of a 2 Michelin starred restaurant in Copenhagen, enjoying a five-year stint in total the Nordics. And in 2024 I won Great British Menu, a show I grew up watching, making me the first woman in the show’s 19-year-history to cook the main course at the banquet.

If you had told me on graduation day that this is what I would go on to do, I wouldn’t have believed you. I have been very lucky with the way life has gone, but it’s not been without some serious sacrifice and hard work.

When I arrived in the Great British Menu kitchen, following in the footsteps of the country’s finest and most talented chefs, I was very nervous – and of course moments of self-doubt creep in. I'd spent 8 years working in some of the toughest kitchens, starting from absolutely nothing, so I wasn't going to bottle it at the most important moment of my career.

I never trained professionally. I came into kitchens older than most and with no skills. I had been on the receiving end of much disapproval and hardship, often feeling lonely and isolated. I'd chosen to move abroad to pursue my career and lost friendships and my network over time. Some kitchen folk had not made my time easy, and so to win the competition and have that validation from the industry made all those sacrifices worth it.

Winning Great British Menu was a moment I will never forget. Such validation, on a stage that us chefs regard so highly - and it was little old me who'd won.

Calling the shots and advice for the next generation of graduates

Your 20s are fascinating. They are times when you work out who you are and how you tick, and I had learnt that I can work well under extreme pressure, and that I can block out the noise and focus. They were characteristics that undoubtedly enabled me to succeed.

I now fully work for myself, something I knew I wanted from my first day in employment. I'm the boss, I'm in charge, and that is how I like it. Apologies to the last 10 years of employers!

I like to make the decisions, and while not all those decisions will be correct, I can deal with the outcome and I'm not afraid to fail. I think that mindset has helped me lead. Often people don't want to make the decisions, but the more you make, the more you realise that whatever the outcome, most of the time you're ok - maybe battered and bruised but having learnt a lot undoubtedly.

Featuring on Great British Menu has given me the platform to do lots of different jobs that were not available to me originally. I work with brands, I cook for sporting events, I host client dinners, I get to cook on television - all sorts! This year I hope to launch a luxury food service called Austen Events for all the events I do. That way it is my team always, and we can deliver the restaurant quality food for whichever occasion it may be with full control.

Work hard, get your head down and in those uncomfortable moments, which are often longer than we would like them to be, keep pushing because they are very valuable lessons and formative years.

To all the Newcastle students set to graduate this summer: You don't need all the answers immediately. Pick a job that you enjoy, because a career can be long, and doing something that brings you pleasure is half the work. But also know that you need to work hard to get the things you want. The glitzy successes do not come without the failures. So, work hard, get your head down and in those uncomfortable moments, which are often longer than we would like them to be, keep pushing because they are very valuable lessons and formative years.

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