Head Chef John McGeever Retires

St Edmund Hall wishes a fond farewell and a wonderful retirement to Head Chef John McGeever who has reinvigorated the College’s menus since his arrival in 2010. He has brought a wealth of experience from cooking at the highest levels in hotels and restaurants that have been starred in international guides. John was a founding member, previous Chairman and now a Honorary Vice-President of The Master Chefs of Great Britain, established in 1980 with the aim of providing a forum for the exchange of culinary ideas and to further the profession through training and guidance to young chefs.

Starting at the age of 14, John undertook classical training in five-star hotels and restaurants which gave him the grounding to understand the science of food. He was a founding member of the Scottish team that competed successfully in the Culinary Olympics in the mid-1980s. Since then, he has opened four luxury hotels for various international companies and is recognised as a judge for many of the UK’s culinary competitions. He is involved in Skills for Chefs, and has presented at their annual conference, and currently sits on the judging panel for their Young Restaurant Team of the Year competition.

John has masterfully balanced the daily challenges of college life combined with high-end cuisine and has created a kitchen team of hard-working and talented individuals. Below are some reflections about John’s time and impact at Teddy Hall from his colleagues who will dearly miss him.

“John has led the kitchen brigade through a transformative process during his tenure here and kept catering going through pandemic times with very demanding and changing priorities with a smile. John has been a real pleasure to work with. His imagination with food has ruined dining out for me as formal dining at the College has been so good. John is also dedicated to passing on his craft to young entrants into the chef profession and we have two talented young chefs in the kitchen who have served their apprenticeships under John.” – Dr Charlotte Sweeney, Domestic Bursar.

“John’s arrival in College was properly transformational. There are very few positions in a community such as ours which have an impact on the quality of daily life for each and every one of its members. John seems to have instinctively recognised that the Head Chef is one such. Right from the outset, he has delighted, educated, and inspired College with his own work, and with that of the team around him. He made a properly significant difference to the quality of the collective commensality that is at the heart of college life, and I for one am enormously grateful.” – Professor Wes Williams, Professor of French Literature and Tutor in Modern Languages.

“John’s first dinner at the Hall was a bit of a baptism of fire as it was the St Edmund Feast but with that dinner he set the standard for the rest of his time at the Hall. John quickly set about improving everything about the service and operation, from the cutlery and glass wear to the quality and presentation of the food. Since that first Feast we have worked on many functions together both in and out of term. The requests have sometimes been challenging but whatever they were I have always had the confidence that what we promised will be produced and more.” – Sue McCarthy, Conference Manager.

The Hall wishes John a brilliant retirement and thanks him for his dedication, hard work and skill that he brought to his role. He leaves Teddy Hall’s fine dining in a stronger position and with a bright future ahead.

Read John McGeever’s 2014 interview with the Hall

Discover the recipe for John’s ‘Teddy Brownies’.