Matthew Foxon joined the iconic Criterion Restaurant as executive chef following its relaunch under new ownership in 2009, and has subsequently overseen the restaurants sizable kitchens, winning renewed critical acclaim and bringing it back to the forefront of the London restaurant scene.

Hailing from Durban in the English part of South Africa and with an English family, Matthew has great passion for producing British food with an occasional African twist. His signature dishes include, ‘Kenzie farm ostrich, dukkha spices, sweet potato, beef bobotjie’ and ‘Gloucester old spot pork loin and belly, pea puree, black pudding, crackling’.

Following his training, Foxon worked in luxury hotels across South Africa, including Balalika in Johannesburg (4 stars), Michelangelo in Johannesburg (5 stars) and The Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Pretoria (5 stars).

Moving to London in 2005, Foxon ran the kitchens at the award winning Greyhound at Battersea, where he exhibited maturity, a reliable attitude and great creativity. During this period Foxon was one of the winners at the 2006 Restaurant Magazine Best Dish awards. In 2007 Foxon moved to The Rosendale in South East London as head chef where he won the Time Out award for best gastropub.

Since moving to Criterion Restaurant in 2009 Foxon starred in the BBC hit series MasterChef, in which three amateur chefs competed under his watchful eye.

With Foxon as executive chef, Criterion Restaurant, a stalwart of the London restaurant scene, has cemented its positioning among London’s most important restaurants, with a new lease of life following a period of uncertainty.