Michelin-trained chef, 27, who was made redundant in lockdown ÌÀ¤é¤«¤Ë¤¹¤ë¡¿Ï³¤é¤¹s how ³«»Ï¤¹¤ë¡¤ÂǤÁ¾å¤²¤ëing a °ìÏ¢¤Î TikTok ¥Ó¥Ç¥ªs about POTATOES lead to viral success, 1.6M ¿®Êô¼Ôs and a Ä´½ñ¤ò¤È¤ë¡¿Í½Ìó¤¹¤ë ¼è°ú¡¤¶¨Äê
- Poppy O'Æ»¶ñ, 27, from London, started working in kitchens when she was 18
- Made redundant at the start of lockdown and introduced to TikTok by siblings?
- A year later she's curated more than 1.6M ¿®Êô¼Ôs and even has a Ä´½ñ¤ò¤È¤ë¡¿Í½Ìó¤¹¤ë ¼è°ú¡¤¶¨Äê?
A chef who lost her ¿¦¶È at the start of lockdown has ÌÀ¤é¤«¤Ë¤¹¤ë¡¿Ï³¤é¤¹d how 'playing around on TikTok' reignited her love of cooking and lead to a career as an influencer with 1.6 million ¿®Êô¼Ôs and even a Ä´½ñ¤ò¤È¤ë¡¿Í½Ìó¤¹¤ë ¼è°ú¡¤¶¨Äê.?
Michelin-trained Poppy O'Æ»¶ñ, 27, from London, started working in kitchens when she was just 18. When the country was µÞÍî¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë¡¤·ã¸º¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ëd into lockdown in 2020, she was made redundant from her 70-hour a week ¿¦¶È in a ºÇ¹â¤Î¡¤¤ò±Û¤¹ kitchen.???
With no way to »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶â rent, she moved »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë into her family home for what she thought would be a two-week lockdown where her younger siblings introduced her to TikTok.
Just a year later, she now is a ÊúÍʤ¹¤ë TikTok À±¡¿¼çÌò¤Ë¤¹¤ë, with a dozens of big »Ø̾¤¹¤ës and brands »Ù±ç her.
The cook has ¼è°ú¡¤¶¨Äês with ÊúÍʤ¹¤ë companies ´Þ¤àing American ɽÌÀ¤¹¤ë - and has ³ÈÂ礹¤ëd beyond just making ¥Ó¥Ç¥ªs of potatoes, ´Þ¤àing teaching basic chef techniques to millions, in cluding the perfect way to ºï¸º¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë an onion and how to poach an egg, which have both racked up millions of ¸«²ò¡Ê¤ò¤È¤ë¡Ës.
'Like many chefs last year, my career ¡Êµ¡¤Î¡Ë¥«¥à to a ¹Ô¤µÍ¤Þ¤ê when lockdown ¹¶·â¤¹¤ë¡¤¾×Æͤ¹¤ë and restaurants were ¤Î¶á¤¯¤Ëd across the country,' she told FEMAIL.?
'I was made redundant, before furlough was a word and my ¸ÛÍѼÔs didn't even stick around to try and keep me on.
Michelin-trained Poppy O'Æ»¶ñ, 27, from London, started working in kitchens when she was just 18, but when the country was µÞÍî¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë¡¤·ã¸º¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ëd into lockdown in 2020, she was made redundant from her 70-hour a week ¿¦¶È in a ºÇ¹â¤Î¡¤¤ò±Û¤¹ kitchen. She is pictured making spudnuts
'I was left genuinely considering how I was going to »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶â the rent.?
'I moved »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë home for what I thought would be about a two week lockdown, felt sorry for myself for about two days and then spend hours scrolling on TikTok and thought¡Ä I could do that!?
'Growth was slow to begin with but even one or two comments a day were rewarding.?
'It wasn't until I started my potato series in November when I went from 100,000 ¿®Êô¼Ôs to over a million ÌëÄ̤·!?
Admitting she felt a sense of 'µßºÑ' after ¸ºß let go from a restaurant, Poppy is now a ½½Ê¬¤Ê time influencer.????
Just before the third lockdown, Poppy noticed one of her ¥Ó¥Ç¥ªs about potatoes had racked up more than a million ¸«²ò¡Ê¤ò¤È¤ë¡Ës, and decided to make a series Ä´ºº¤¹¤ëing 25 days of potatoes - which saw her ¤Ë°ú¤Â³¤¤¤Æ grow even ¤½¤Î¾å¤Î.
The cook has ¼è°ú¡¤¶¨Äês with ÊúÍʤ¹¤ë companies ´Þ¤àing American ɽÌÀ¤¹¤ë - and has ³ÈÂ礹¤ëd beyond just making ¥Ó¥Ç¥ªs of potatoes, ´Þ¤àing teaching basic chef techniques to millions, ´Þ¤àing the perfect way to ºï¸º¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë an onion and how to poach an egg, which have both racked up millions of ¸«²ò¡Ê¤ò¤È¤ë¡Ës. She is pictured making spudnuts
Admitting she felt a sense of 'µßºÑ' after ¸ºß let go from a restaurant, Poppy is now a ½½Ê¬¤Ê time influencer and ºîÉÊ with brands like Deliveroo and American ɽÌÀ¤¹¤ë
'I've always loved cooking but the work/life balance was always a big thing for me.
'I felt like I was ¹ÔÊýÉÔÌÀ¤Î out on so much. But part of me does ¹ÔÊýÉÔÌÀ¤Ë¤Ê¤ë the buzz of ȳ¶â dining and curating a menu, so my goal is do to pop-ups as soon as I can, ƱÍÍ¤Ë as working on »ö¶È¡¿·×²è¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ës like #ARTFeast which was a special menu to celebrate Amex Gold recently partnering with Deliveroo.?
'I love how it feels like I'm »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë creatively putting À®²Ì¡¿ÅØÎÏ into a menu, using my ȳ¶â dining knowledge again and getting to see how amazing food can make people happy first ¼êÅϤ¹'.
Because she's gone viral for her passion for potatoes, she now ´Þ¤às them in everything she does.?
Because she's gone viral for her passion for potatoes, she now ´Þ¤às them in everything she does - and recently made potato doughnuts for a »ö¶È¡¿·×²è¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë (pictured)
'I love potatoes and I h ave to give credit to a ÊÔ½¸ of potatoes I made in which I Äɲ乤ëd a voiceover with a posh ¶Ëü¤Ë ¸ØÄ¥¤¹¤ëd English accent and said "Welcome to Potato TikTok".
'It ¹¶·â¤¹¤ë¡¤¾×Æͤ¹¤ë more than 20m ¸«²ò¡Ê¤ò¤È¤ë¡Ës and saw more than one million people starting to follow for potato goodness,' she Äɲ乤ëd.
She recently joined ·³Ââs with out-there visual artist Pip & Pop to create the AMEX Gold #ARTFEAST, ½Ò¤Ù¤ëd as the ultimate art-²ñ¹ç¡¤²ñ¤¦s-culinary home dining experience where ¶Ã¤¯¤Ù¤¡¿ÆÃÌ¿¤Î¡¿Î×»þ¤Î food ¾×Æͤ¹¤ë¡¿¿©¤¤°ã¤¦s with ¶Ã¤¯¤Ù¤¡¿ÆÃÌ¿¤Î¡¿Î×»þ¤Î art.
The ÁϤs ´Þ¤àd Golden ²¼Í¤ë Dabs and Golden Chocolate ¹©¾ì¡¿¿¢Êª ¥Þ¥ê¥Õ¥¡¥Ês - ƱÍÍ¤Ë a 'spudnuts' a doughnut made from potatoes.??
'I have to utilise a potato in whatever I'm doing, so the potato spud nuts (a doughnut made from mashed potato!) HAD to be on the menu for this #ARTFEAST »ö¶È¡¿·×²è¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë!
'I love doughnuts, and potatoes are my ½ð̾ À®Ê¬, so when I discovered spud nuts last year I just knew I had to introduce them to the UK. Spud nuts aren't what you'd ¿äÄꤹ¤ë¡¿Í½ÁÛ¤¹¤ë when eating a potato based ´Å¤¤ °·¤¦¡¿¼£ÎŤ¹¤ë!'
But it's not all plain-sailing, Poppy Äɲ乤ëd that the more popular her ¥Ó¥Ç¥ªs get, the harsher the comments become.??
, Poppy Äɲ乤ëd that the more popular her ¥Ó¥Ç¥ªs get, the harsher the comments become
'The best bit is the comments and the worst bit¡Ä is the comments.?
'On a day to day basis where my ¥Ó¥Ç¥ªs are probably getting around 300,000 ¸«²ò¡Ê¤ò¤È¤ë¡Ës a day, the comments are always ¹ÎÄêŪ¤Ê. I think this is because my ¥Ó¥Ç¥ªs are just going out to a pool of people who already follow me and enjoy my stuff.?
'The more viral the ¥Ó¥Ç¥ªs get, the worse the comments get.
'For example, I ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ëd a quick Ê¿°×¤Ê how-to of how to chop an onion that ¹¶·â¤¹¤ë¡¤¾×Æͤ¹¤ë over 105 million ¸«²ò¡Ê¤ò¤È¤ë¡Ës across TikTok and Instagram and a lot of the comments just got worse and worse.?
'It was mostly chefs wanting to tell me I was wrong or not a real chef, and at first I felt I had to Éüµ¢ to everyone and ¾ÚÌÀ¤¹¤ë my ¿®Ç¤¾õ, but I soon worked out it was probably more jealousy than anything.
'The onion ¥Ó¥Ç¥ª was a shock because I thought it was too simple for people to care?
Poppy?recently joined ·³Ââs with out-there visual artist Pip & Pop to create the AMEX Gold #ARTFEAST, ½Ò¤Ù¤ëd as the ultimate art-²ñ¹ç¡¤²ñ¤¦s-culinary home dining experience where ¶Ã¤¯¤Ù¤¡¿ÆÃÌ¿¤Î¡¿Î×»þ¤Î food ¾×Æͤ¹¤ë¡¿¿©¤¤°ã¤¦s with ¶Ã¤¯¤Ù¤¡¿ÆÃÌ¿¤Î¡¿Î×»þ¤Î art
'I've worked in ȳ¶â dining restaurants for so long, you forget that not everyone knows these tips and tricks you learn!'.
'I have always loved to eat, but professionally I worked on pastry a lot more - desserts, breads etc.?
'So working on this »ö¶È¡¿·×²è¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë, it was ¹Âç¤Ê¡¿Â¿¿ô¤Î¡¿½ÅÍ×¤Ê to flex my ȳ¶â dining pastry muscles again with marshmallows, lollies, macaroons, doughnuts and chocolate ¥Þ¥ê¥Õ¥¡¥Ês.?
'My dream has come true with my debut recipe Ä´½ñ¤ò¤È¤ë¡¿Í½Ì󤹤ë, which is called Poppy Cooks: The Food You Need, that is out in September.
'It was ¹Âç¤Ê¡¿Â¿¿ô¤Î¡¿½ÅÍ×¤Ê to be »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë in the ¼Â¸³¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë kitchen and make ȳ¶â dining dishes that Âåɽ¤¹¤ë all things GOLD.?
'I love a bit of glitz and love a bit of fun, so when they told me I was working with the incredible artist PipNPop I thought¡Ä I'm going to enjoy this one!?
'For me, food is art. I love plating. I love food that tastes good but also there's something so special about exciting people through the ÃíÌܤ¹¤ë¡¤¤â¤¯¤í¤às too.?
'There's nothing better than that ͽ´ü before taking your first bite! It was like ¸ºß »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë at work for me.?
'Curating the menu, ¼Â¸³¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ëing the ³µÇ°s and flavours, making them look exquisite.?
'It was also the first time people tried my food in so long! So it's ¹Âç¤Ê¡¿Â¿¿ô¤Î¡¿½ÅÍ×¤Ê to know I'm not the only one who thinks it tastes good!
For anyone else thinking of ¼Â¸³ing in the kitchen, Poppy ¼¨º¶¤¹¤ë:? 'Don't be afraid to mess up! We all do, even the ¥×¥í¤Î¡¿»¿À®¤Î chefs, and ¤¤¤Ä¤«s you learn more about food in the ²áÄø of ľ¤¹¡¿Çã¼ý¤¹¤ë¡¤È¬É´Ä¹¤ò¤¹¤ëing your mistakes!
'Don't be embarrassed of what other people will think when trying something knew.
'I used to be so conscious of what ex-Ʊνs would have thought of me putting myself and my food out there online, but happy I made the jump ¤µ¤â¤Ê¤±¤ì¤Ð I wouldn't be where I am today.
'I'm often throwing stuff together and hoping for the best, rather than ¤Ë°ú¤Â³¤¤¤Æ recipes. So ¤¤¤Ä¤«s I'll be filming something, I'll make it and then try and remember the recipe!?
'I think that's why people enjoyed my 'What A Chef Eats In a Day' series that shows how you can throw stuff together each day for amazing dishes at home.'.
Amex Gold partnered with Poppy O'Æ»¶ñ to celebrate Amex Gold Card's ºÇ¶á¤Î ¶¦Æ± with Deliveroo. Amex Gold Cardmembers can now get ¡ò5 »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë, twice every month, when ordering their favourite dishes ·Ðͳ¤Ç the Deliveroo app or website, using their Amex Gold Card. To find out more, search 'Amex Gold'.
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