Martin Blunos

Blinis is Martin Blunos's third restaurant in 14 years. In each one he has earned two Michelin stars. First was a 22-seat restaurant, Lettonie, on the edge of Bristol. After nine years, in 1997, he opened a larger restaurant with rooms on the outskirts of Bath. Last year, he joined forces with hoteliers Sebastian and Philippa Hughes to open a deli and restaurant in the centre of the Georgian city, close by its world-famous Pultney Bridge.

Unlike many of his peers, he hasn't learnt his craft from other master chefs. He went to college in Cheltenham, did a spell at the Strand Palace hotel in London, a season in Switzerland and a few cruises on a Greek tycoon's yacht before finding a job at Lampwick's in London's Battersea Road, where the main competition came from Nico Ladenis in his early nouvelle cuisine phase.

Blunos's parents emigrated to England from Latvia, and his cooking, though strongly Franco-British with many individual touches, often reflects his Eastern European roots.