![Chef Marcus Wareing, centre, in the royal box at Wimbledon earlier this month.](https://media.guim.co.uk/71dc5ded1576069ddc9546ac6805067553f6b972/0_106_3179_1907/1000.jpg)
He may serve roasted quail with Waterloo custard and onion chutney at his own Michelin-starred restaurant but chef Marcus Wareing’s own tastes appear to be a little more down to earth.
The MasterChef: The Professionals judge has revealed his favourite pizza is the American Hot at the high-street chain Pizza Express.
When asked by the TikTok influencer Jesse Burgess to name his favourite pizza, Wareing said: “This one is easy, but you’re not going to like the answer. Pizza Express. I know, I know.” He added: “I still eat the same pizza I was eating for the past 20 years, American Hot, I love it. Romana, a little bit of extra chilli, I love it. It’s got to be a Romana base. And you know, every time I go it’s cooked the same.”
Pizza Express’s corporate TikTok account replied to the video saying: “Yes, chef!” and another person wrote: “He should hand back his stars!”
The chef has previously made his love for Pizza Express known. In 2012, Wareing told Spear’s Magazine: “This may be a surprise but I am a regular at our local Pizza Express with our children and I think it is a fantastic business. I have tried other pizza restaurants but the service is lacking.” He added: “When I go here I know what I am getting, how long it will take, the kids love it and it gives me a day off from cooking.”
![Pizza Express’s American Hot.](https://media.guim.co.uk/68a48d0bba121b462a49f416a5e608ff96f864ba/0_303_4040_2424/1000.jpg)
The pizza chain was founded by Peter Boizot, with the first restaurant opening on Wardour Street in central London. At its peak there were 470 sites across the UK, with a further 100 in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. However, under the restructuring by its creditors more than 100 restaurants closed. Waring’s favourite pizza, the American Hot, costs £16.25.
Wareing’s three restaurants include Marcus in Knightsbridge, which has received one Michelin star and five AA rosettes.
He has reached a new audience as one of the faces of BBC’s MasterChef: The Professionals, a cooking show in which he judges the dishes made by 32 ambitious cooks from across the UK as they vie for a place as the series champion.
A spokesman for Pizza Express said: “Our iconic American Hot has long been a favourite with customers – and now a Michelin-star chef, too. There will always be a marble table with Marcus’s name on it at Pizza Express.”