TV’s hot new chef comes straight from the farm

Thirty-year-old Julius Roberts is the hottest new face in cooking and says he’s delighted to follow in the footsteps of his idols, Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

WEEKEND TELEGRAPHS SPECIAL., PLEASE CONTACT WEEKEND PIC EDITOR JEFF DARMANIN BEFORE PUBLISHING., Julius Roberts – the new Jamie Oliver. Must credit Elena Heatherwick

With a name like a movie star, plus screen-idol looks, Julius Roberts was destined for fame.

It came, for the young Brit, in the form of food.
The 30-year-old is the hottest new face in cooking and says he’s delighted to follow in the footsteps of his idols, Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

“To be compared to them is an honour,” he says. “I used to religiously watch River Cottage. Food shows were so good back in the day, I miss those style of programs,” he says, from his farm in southwest England.

There are not many 20-somethings who give up city life to live solo on a farm but that’s what Julius did, in 2017, when he left London for the British countryside and traded crowded bars for a smallholding and pigs.

Now based on his family’s farm in Dorset, he has 100 sheep, 40 goats and did have 20 chickens, before a fox ate 19 of them.

Julius Roberts.

Roberts left London for solo life on a farm.

He also has almost five million likes on TikTok and 445,000 Instagram fans, the TV series A Taste of the Country: Dorset and now, his first cookbook, The Farm Table.

Like his social-media feed, it’s a beautifully-curated book of simple paddock-to-plate recipes. His uber-rustic style is extremely popular, for example, his video of a leek, potato and chorizo stew, which he knocked up out of a watering can in a greenhouse, got more than four million views.

After studying sculpture, Julius realised he wanted to pursue the art of food instead. So, he threw himself in to the fire of a top kitchen, working at London’s Noble Rot – an experience which sounded like the hit TV series The Bear. “I got very lucky, I got given a job that was beyond my means, very quickly, compared to some people who might spend years washing up,” he says. “I got to learn incredible stuff very early on, but it was brutal.

“I’d go to work in the dark, I’d get home in the dark, the kitchen had no windows and in the summer, it would be 45-50 degrees in there. It was pretty hardcore, but inspired me so much,” he says.

Roberts studied sculpture before turning to food. Picture: Elena Heatherwick

He realised he wanted to be outdoors, growing food, not in a hot kitchen, preparing it. “I remember one day just thinking, ‘I want to grow food, be outside and part of the seasons’,” he says.

Initially moving to Suffolk on his own, he began documenting his life on Instagram and quickly amassed a huge following. “It’s been mistakes and hard lessons and a lot of things to learn,” he says, but his audience kept him from feeling lonely. “Having this audience to talk to and share these amazing moments felt quite special,” he says. And while initially there was a special someone – Noel Gallagher’s daughter Anais – with him, the pair went their separate ways.

His audience – a vast number of whom, like his father, are Aussies – “It’s a big portion of my following”, enjoys the ups and downs of his life, but particularly the downs, he says. “People want to see you in your life, they want to see you experience it,” he says. “It’s always been when I’m getting humbled, when I’ve made a mistake. People love to see you on the edge.”

But now it’s all on the up again for the rising star. So, what’s next? “I’d love to do another TV show,” he says, but he’s not going to swap his farm life for a studio any time soon.

“I really love being outside and farming. Often I find myself getting taken away from it, but I’d love to keep learning and farming, I’d love some cows and pigs again, to be as close to self-sufficient as possible, make my own cheese.

“This way of life is a privilege,” he says, adding he hopes to inspire others to live differently. “I left London when I was 23. It’s quite a young age to have made such a big leap and to sacrifice so much of what people think is good,” he says. “So, for people who aspire to a similar life, to see a young person showing that it’s possible, is quite an appealing thing to watch.”

The Farm Table, Julius Roberts, $55, Ebury Press, out September 26.