Kevin Dundon is an Irish celebrity chef, television personality and author, known for featuring on television series such as Guerrilla Gourmet and Heat. He is the author of the book, Full on Irish: Contemporary Creative Cooking and his recipes have been featured in publications such as the Sunday Tribune and Weekend magazine in the Irish Independent. He has also cooked for The Queen and both an Irish and a US president.
Dundon is the owner of Dunbrody Country House Hotel, in County Wexford, which also houses the Dunbrody Cookery School; the "signature chef" of an "Irish gastropub" located in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida; and the "face" of Las Vegas's Nine Fine Irishmen New York-New York Hotel located restaurant. He has appeared many times on Irish, British, Canadian and American television, including The Afternoon Show on RTÉ One, BBC One's Saturday Kitchen, UKTV's Great Food Live, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, ESPN Cable and CBS's The Saturday Early Show.
Career
Early career
Dundon was born in Dublin. He worked on a scholarship in Switzerland after finishing school and completing a course at Dublin Institute of Technology, graduating in 1986. He began his career by working in The Old Schoolhouse, a restaurant in Dublin. He then had a job cooking on a cruise liner in the Caribbean before furthering his career by spending eight years at the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts in Canada, at the age of twenty-two becoming the youngest ever executive head chef in the company's history. Dundon returned to Ireland in 1994 and was named the executive chef at Dublin's Shelbourne Hotel. He opened Dunbrody at the age of thirty, four years after this.
Recent career
In May 2005, Dundon opened the Raglan Road Irish gastropub in Disney World, Florida.
In 2006, Dundon published Full on Irish: Contemporary Creative Cooking, his first cookery book. He began to feature regularly on The Afternoon Show.
On 17 March 2007, he featured on CBS's The Saturday Early Show.
In February 2008, Dundon featured in the first episode of Guerrilla Gourmet, a television series which had six professional chefs attempt to set up their own temporary restaurant in an unusual location. He established his restaurant in Saint Saviour's Boxing Club in Waterford. Four of the fifty members of the boxing club prepare the food, including pigeon and tomato and poitín soup, in the temporary kitchen.
In March 2008, he opened his second American restaurant in Kansas City.
In July 2008, the reality television series, Heat, was launched. Two series of the programme have been produced, with Dundon taking on rival chef Kevin Thornton in each. He was Heat Champion in the first series but lost the second series to Thornton.
In April 2009, he helped launch the outdoor Taste of Dublin festival alongside fellow chef Thornton. Dundon also demonstrated his cookery skills at Dungarvan Town Hall in County Waterford as part of the second annual Waterford Festival of Food in April 2009.
Kevin's TV presence increased with his popularity. He could be seen throughout the 2000s on Today; SuperValu: Best of Real Food Miniseries; Heat; The Afternoon Show; Take On the Takeaway; Guerrilla Gourmet; On The Fly; Home Cooking and Family Food; Hip World Gourmet; You're Not the Man I Married; and Celebrity "Jigs ‘n’ Reels"; and BBC's Stuffed. Additionally he made guest appearances on Tubridy Tonight (RTÉ); Ask Anna (RTÉ); CBC (LIVE) CANADA; The Early Show: Shoestring's St. Patrick's Day Feast (CBS); Dinner and a Movie (TBS); ESPN; Food Poker (BBC 2); Great Food Live (UKTV); No Frontiers Travel Show; Sara's Secret (Food Network); Saturday Kitchen (BBC 1); The Panel (RTÉ); The Saturday Early Show (CBS); The Today Programme (BBC 1); and The Today Show (NBC).
In 2009, Kevin also hosted RTÉ's primetime show 'Heat', appeared on RTÉ's travel show 'No Frontiers' and BBC's 'You're Not the Man I Married'. He also released his cookbook, Great Family Food, a number one best-seller in hardback non-fiction in Ireland.
In 2010, Kevin hosted RTÉ's third season of 'Heat', appeared on RTÉ's cooking show 'Take On the Takeaway' and co-hosted BBC's four-part series 'Stuffed'.