ABOUT OUR CHEF
With more than 15 years’ experience as a food writer, stylist and presenter Silvana Franco has a lot to say about food, and her charming but forthright approach marks her out from the rest.
Born and raised in Derby to a large Italian family, she was used to great home-cooked food throughout her childhood. She decided to train as a chef at the High Peak College in Buxton and then went on to finish her studies with a degree in Home Economics from the Southbank University.
During a work placement at BBC Worldwide she began her career writing for BBC Vegetarian Good Food. She quickly progressed to senior writer on its sister paper, BBC Good Food and did a stint on their youth magazine Girltalk. She spent five years with the company - and as editor of the television pages she began to forge links with the independent and BBC food producers.
She then worked as Food Editor for the M&S Magazine before changing tack and moving behind the scenes in the world of television as a food stylist and writer on Can’t Cook Won’t Cook, Ainsley’s Meals in Minutes, Ainsley’s Big Cook Out, Gourmet Express and Friends For Dinner. Her association with Ainsley continued in New York, where she whipped the Manhattan food team into shape for his NBC series.
Silvana’s striking and engaging personality soon attracted producers and she started to appear on screen in her own right, working alongside Ainsley in Gourmet Express 2. She then co-starred in The Best for BBC2, which was accompanied by a book of the series, and has appeared on GMTV, UKTV Food, Saturday Cooks, Great Food Live and This Morning. Her books include The Really Useful Vegetarian Student Cookbook; The Student Cookbook; Can’t Cook Won’t Cook Leaves Home, and Pizza and Pasta. Her most recent book is Natural Born Fillers.
Over ten years ago she joined forces with two former colleagues to set up Fork, a food media company. Grill Power, their weekly page in The Sun reached an audience of three and a half million and delivered advice and recipes to readers with cookery problems.
Silvana lives in London with her husband Rob and son, Fabio.
click to visit Silvana's website for further news and information