Wahaca, Covent Garden, 2008Wahaca mobile street kitchen, 2012
Thomasina Jean Miers, OBE (born February 1976) is an English cook, writer and television presenter. She is the co-founder of the Wahaca chain of Mexican street food restaurants.
Early life
Thomasina Jean Miers was born in February 1976 in Cheltenham,[1] the daughter of (Michael) Probyn Miers, a joiner and furniture maker,[2] formerly a management consultant[3][4] and Niki Miers, of Guiting Power, Cheltenham.[5][6] She grew up in "a big rambling house" at Acton, West London.[7] The Miers family, landed gentry originally of Aldingham, Cumbria (then in Lancashire), owned the Ynyspenllwch estate in Glamorganshire until the time of her grandfather, Cmdr Richard Eustace Probyn Miers, RN.[8] Miers has a twin brother, Dighton, and a sister, Talulah.[9][7]
In 2005, Miers won the BBC TV cookery competition MasterChef, "impressing judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace with her bold and, at times, eccentric cooking style".[12]
She has made two series of cookery programmes for Channel 4 with co-presenter Guy Grieve: Wild Gourmets[13] in 2007 and A Cook's Tour of Spain in 2008.[14] In 2011, she presented Mexican Food Made Simple for Channel 5.[15]
She is co-editor with Annabel Buckingham of the cookbook Soup Kitchen (with an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall). She has also written Cook: Smart Seasonal Recipes for Hungry People,[16]The Wild Gourmets: Adventures in Food and Freedom, with Guy Grieve,[17] and Mexican Food Made Simple.[18]
Miers co-founded Wahaca, which became a chain of Mexican "street food" restaurants, alongside Mark Selby in 2006.[19] The company opened its first restaurant in London's Covent Garden in August 2007[20] and in October 2008 a second opened at Westfield London.[21] Wahaca launched their first mobile kitchen in 2011, selling Mexican street food on the streets of London.[22] By the end of 2017 Wahaca had 25 branches,[23] and in January 2021 there were 13.[24]
Personal life
Miers is married to Mark Williams, a fund manager at Liontrust Asset Management[25] and they have three daughters.[5][26]
^"The Independent: "My Secret Life: Thomasina Miers, chef & food broadcaster"". Independent.co.uk. 17 November 2007. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
^Elliot, Liz (3 January 2017). "An Artist's Cosy 18th-Century Barn". House & Garden. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
^"MR MICHAEL PROBYN MIERS director information". Company Check. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
^"Mr Michael Probyn Miers – Director Profile". Endole. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
^ a b"The Telegraph.co.uk: Engagement Announcements". Announcements.telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
^Cheltenham-born chef, founder of Wahaca Mexican restaurant chain
^ a b"My secret life: Thomasina Miers". The Independent. 13 June 2009. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
^Burke's Landed Gentry, eighteenth edition, vol. 2, 1969, p. 433, "Miers formerly of Ynyspenllwch" pedigree
^Higgins, Ria (2 November 2014). "A Life in the Day: Thomasina Miers, MasterChef winner turned restaurateur". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
^"Thomasina Miers". radiorelations.co.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
^"Miers masters the top notes". pressandjournal.co.uk. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
^"Thomasina Miers". waterstones.com. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
^"Wild Gourmets". Channel 4. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
^"A Cook's Tour of Spain". Channel 4. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
^"Mexican Food Made Simple". Channel 5. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
^Campbell, Scott (7 May 2014). "Wahaca owner's recipe for success". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
^"Wahaca". Caterersearch. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
^"Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers to launch second Wahaca". Caterersearch. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
^Wahaca Mexican restaurant chain
^"Locations". Wahaca. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017.
^"Locations – Wahaca". Wahaca. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
^"The Asia team – Who we are – Liontrust Asset Management PLC". www.liontrust.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
^Urwin, Rosamund (30 January 2017). "Wahaca co-founder Thomasina Miers on Donald Trump, tacos and norovirus". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
^"Cosmopolitan fan William presents OBE to former editor-in-chief". East Lothian Courier. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2021.