SATURDAY KITCHEN Glynn Purnell BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

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Glynn Purnell was born in 1975 and has been described by the Birmingham Post as "undoubtedly the finest chef to hail from Chelmsley Wood". He is the proprietor and Head Chef at Purnell's restaurant in Birmingham, which was awarded a Michelin star in January 2009.
Glynn was born in Chelmsley Wood, a large council estate in Solihull. When he was young he would cook for his younger brother and sister, feeding them beans on toast with curry powder and chopped onions. His first experience working in a kitchen was when he did work experience at the Metropole Hotel at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre at the age of 14. He returned for a six year apprenticeship when he left school.
His career in fine dining started in 1996 when he joined Andreas Antona at Simpsons restaurant -- then based in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. In 2003 Glynn was appointed to his first Head Chef role at Jessica'sin Edgbaston, Birmingham, which was awarded the first Michelin star given to a Birmingham restaurant in 2005, and was also named English "Restaurant of the Year" by the AA the same year.
He left Jessica's in 2007 and opened his own restaurant, Purnell's in Birmingham City Centre, which was also awarded a Michelin star in January 2009, and itself won the AA Restaurant of the Year award in September of the same year.
In August 2010 it was announced that Purnell would be opening a second restaurant -- The Asquith, an "ambitious, neighbourhood restaurant" -- in the premises of the former Jessica's in Edgbaston. On April 3rd 2011, The Asquith closed its doors due to a dispute with the buildings landlord however Glynn is looking to re-locate and re-open The Asquith with the same team of staff in place.