1. Biography
    Early years  Move to the USA  Michelin Stars  Sexual Harassment Issues 

2. Published works

3. References

• Michelin stars {{Rating|1|3}}

• The Spotted Pig
• The Breslin
• The John Dory Oyster Bar
• Tosca Cafe
• Salvation Taco
• The Hearth and Hound

April Bloomfield (born 1974), is a British chef best known for opening two restaurants: The Spotted Pig and The Breslin Bar & Dining Room. She had previously worked at a number of restaurants in the United Kingdom, including The River Café and Bibendum.

Chef Bloomfield is also noted for achieving the highest score of any single challenger in Iron Chef America history, accomplishing the feat during her 56–53 victory over Michael Symon in 2008.

Biography

Early years

Bloomfield was born in Birmingham, West Midlands, in 1974. Her father was an engineer, while her mother worked from home for Halcyon Days Ltd, painting bomboniere. She originally wanted to become a police officer, but changed her mind when she discovered that she had missed out on the police cadet scheme. She then decided to attend catering college alongside her sister, where she realised that cooking was a career she wanted.^[1]

Following college, she began working at the Holiday Inn in Birmingham, before moving to London to work at Kensington Place, and later at Bibendum. She moved to work in Northern Ireland but soon returned to London. After working at several more restaurants, she started working at The River Café after she secured a position there through a friend.^[1] She credits her time at the River Café with Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers as being the time which really taught her to cook.

Move to the USA

Whilst at the River Cafe, she was scouted by American chef Mario Batali following Jamie Oliver's suggestion, to open a bistro-style restaurant in New York City.^[4] She was flown out to New York, where she was offered the job after a ten-hour interview with Batali, which saw the pair eat at a variety of the restaurants in the city.^[1] After spending the summer working at Chez Panisse to familiarise herself with American ingredients,^[1] she moved to New York in the autumn of 2003, and opened the gastropub The Spotted Pig with business partner Ken Friedman.^[1] The restaurant went on to win a Michelin star in 2005, the first time a specific list had been produced for New York City.^[2]

She opened a second restaurant, located in the Ace Hotel New York, called The Breslin which later also won a Michelin star. She also opened an oyster bar in the hotel called The John Dory Oyster Bar.^[3] Bloomfield and Friedman then opened "Salvation Taco" in the Pod 39 Hotel in New York City,^[4] followed by the revitalization and reopening of "Tosca Cafe" in San Francisco.^[5] In February 2016, Bloomfield and Friedman opened "Salvation Burger" in the Pod 51 Hotel in Midtown East.^[6]

Michelin Stars

As of the 2012 Michelin Guide, she is one of ten female chefs in the United States to hold a Michelin star.^[7] She lost the star a few years later. ^[8]

Sexual Harassment Issues

In December 2017, her co-owner at The Spotted Pig, Ken Friedman, was accused of sexual harassment in the New York Times. The article's authors interviewed many employees who said April Bloomfield knew about everything that was going on at the Spotted Pig. "Several other employees say they also brought their complaints and concerns about Mr. Friedman to Ms. Bloomfield. Her response was always the same. "That's who he is. Get used to it. Or go work for someone else." April also acknowledged her restaurant's third floor nickname, 'the rape room'."^[9] Friedman subsequently resigned from management duties of their restaurant group, ^[10] and eventually Bloomfield posted a Twitter apology for "not protecting her staff".^[11]

Bloomfield and Friedman later separated as business partners, and Bloomfield went public with a defence of her silence in those years due to allegedly working in an abusive environment herself, including being threatened with having her green card revoked by Friedman if she did not cooperate with him in every way.

Published works

• {{cite book|last=Bloomfield|first=April|title=A Girl and Her Pig|year=2012|publisher=Ecco|location=New York|isbn=978-0062003966}}
• {{cite book|last=Bloomfield|first=April|title=A Girl and Her Greens|year=2015|publisher=Ecco|location=New York|isbn=978-0062225887}}

References

• 2007 Australian Performance Car Championship
• 2007 Australian Production Car Championship
• 2007 Australian Saloon Car Championship
• 2007 Australian Tourist Trophy
• 2007 Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa
• 2007 Avispa Fukuoka season
• 2007 Bagram Air Base bombing
• 2007 Balashikha shooting
• 2007 Bangalore Open - Singles Qualifying
• 2007 Bangalore Open – Singles Qualifying
• 2007 Banka Koper Slovenia Open
• 2007 Banka Koper Slovenia Open – Doubles
• 2007 Banka Koper Slovenia Open – Singles
• 2007 Bank of the West Classic - Doubles
• 2007 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
• 2007 Bank of the West Classic — Singles
• 2007 Barbarians end of season tour
• 2007 Barcelona City Council election
• 2007 Barcelona KIA – Doubles
• 2007 Barcelona KIA – Singles
• 2007 Barclays Asia Trophy
• 2007 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election
• 2007 Basildon District Council election
• 2007 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
• 2007 Bath and North East Somerset Council election