Simon Rimmer has built one of the more unusual careers in British food television. Long before he became a familiar Sunday-morning face, he was a fashion and textile design graduate with no formal chef training, trying to make a small vegetarian restaurant work in Manchester.
That decision led to cookbooks, restaurant ventures and a television partnership with Tim Lovejoy that has lasted for two decades. Today, Rimmer remains closely associated with Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, where food, music, celebrity interviews and relaxed conversation are mixed into one live-style programme. His story is not simply that of a TV chef, but of a self-taught cook who entered hospitality almost by accident and turned that unconventional start into a lasting media career.
Quick Bio
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Simon Peter Rimmer |
| Profession | Celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter and author |
| Date of Birth | May 1963 |
| Age | 63 years old (2026) |
| Nationality | British |
| Known For | Co-presenting Sunday Brunch with Tim Lovejoy |
| Education | Studied fashion and textile design |
| Culinary Training | Self-taught chef |
| Famous Restaurant | Greens, Manchester |
| Restaurant Founded | 1990 |
| Notable TV Shows | Sunday Brunch, Something for the Weekend, Strictly Come Dancing |
| Notable Books | The Accidental Vegetarian, The Rebel Cook, The Sunday Brunch Cookbook |
| Wife | Ali Rimmer |
| Children | Two |
| Net Worth | Not publicly verified |
| Current Role | Co-host and resident chef on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch |
The Restaurant Gamble That Changed His Career
Rimmer’s route into professional cooking was far from conventional. He studied fashion and textile design and worked as a designer before hospitality became his main focus. In interviews, he has said that student jobs in bars and restaurants had already given him a taste for the atmosphere of the industry.
The decisive move came in 1990, when Rimmer and business partner Simon Connolly took over Greens in West Didsbury, Manchester. The site was already vegetarian, and the pair kept that identity. Their finances, however, did not allow for the kitchen team they had imagined, so Rimmer found himself cooking rather than simply running front of house.
Rimmer taught himself to cook and developed food around vegetables even though he was not a vegetarian. Greens later became an established Manchester restaurant. He has said its philosophy was to celebrate what people could eat rather than present vegetarian food as a list of restrictions, an approach that shaped both his restaurant reputation and later cookbooks.
From Manchester Kitchens to Sunday Brunch
The restaurant gave Rimmer credibility as a chef, but television expanded his audience. His early screen work covered food and lifestyle programming before he found the format that would define his broadcasting career.
In 2006, he joined Tim Lovejoy on BBC Two’s Something for the Weekend. The programme mixed cookery with interviews, entertainment and weekend conversation instead of treating food as a formal instructional subject. That format suited Rimmer’s approachable style, and the programme ran until 2012.
When it ended, Rimmer and Lovejoy moved to Channel 4. The broadcaster announced Sunday Brunch in February 2012, with the pair as co-hosts. The new programme retained the broad Sunday-morning mix of recipes, guests, music, television, film, drinks and informal chat.
The longevity of that partnership is central to Rimmer’s profile. As of September 2026, current listings still show Rimmer and Lovejoy presenting new episodes of Sunday Brunch on Channel 4.
The format also gives Rimmer a different role from chefs whose television careers depend mainly on demonstrations or competitions. On Sunday Brunch, he moves between cooking, interviewing and reacting to guests, while Lovejoy shares the presenting duties. That blend has made his food knowledge part of a broader entertainment format rather than the sole focus of the programme. It also helps explain why the partnership has remained recognisable to viewers long after its BBC origins.
How Vegetarian Food Defined Simon Rimmer’s Reputation
Rimmer’s connection with vegetarian cooking is notable because it began through circumstance rather than personal dietary identity. When he took over Greens, vegetarian restaurant food occupied a much narrower space in Britain than it does today. His challenge was to make meat-free dishes feel generous and interesting to a mixed audience.
That philosophy later moved into publishing. The Accidental Vegetarian, first published in 2004, reflected the idea that vegetarian food could appeal beyond committed vegetarians. His other books include Rebel Cook, The Seasoned Vegetarian, More from the Accidental Vegetarian and, with Tim Lovejoy, The Sunday Brunch Cookbook.
The Closure of Greens After More Than Three Decades
One of the most significant recent chapters in Rimmer’s career was the closure of Greens. The original West Didsbury restaurant shut in January 2024 after more than three decades of trading. Rimmer said a rent increase of about 35 per cent, combined with higher food, energy and staffing costs, had made the business unviable.
A second Greens site had opened in Sale in 2022, offering the brand a possible next chapter. It also closed in September 2024 after its directors and shareholders concluded that the business could not continue sustainably.
The closures mattered because Greens was the business that came first and the place where Rimmer learned his trade.
Rimmer also used the experience to speak publicly about pressure on British hospitality, including rising operating costs.
Strictly Come Dancing, Books and Other Media Work
Although Sunday Brunch remains his best-known role, Rimmer’s television career has reached beyond one programme. His credits include food and lifestyle shows such as Recipes for Success, This Morning and Great British Menu, alongside other presenting and guest appearances.
His most visible move outside food television came in 2017, when he competed on Strictly Come Dancing with professional dancer Karen Clifton, now Karen Hauer. The appearance introduced him to a different prime-time audience.
He has also worked in audio. His Grilling podcast featured conversations with chefs and celebrity food enthusiasts, placing him in the interviewer’s role and using the conversational skills already familiar to Sunday Brunch viewers.
Personal Life, Age and Financial Questions
Rimmer keeps his family life less prominent than his work. Public interviews identify his wife as Ali and note that the couple have two children. He has occasionally discussed family and home cooking, but private life has never been the central part of his public profile.
Companies House records list Simon Peter Rimmer as a British company director born in May 1963, making him 63 in 2026. The same public record also shows active company appointments, reflecting the business side of a career often viewed mainly through television.
There is no authoritative public figure for Simon Rimmer’s personal net worth. Online estimates should be treated cautiously because restaurant turnover, company shareholdings and television earnings cannot reliably be converted into personal wealth without detailed financial information.
Where Simon Rimmer Fits in British Food Media Today
Rimmer’s durability comes from the overlap between several careers. He is a chef without the traditional culinary-school origin story, a restaurateur whose defining business predated his fame, a cookbook author and a television host whose strongest format is built around conversation as much as cooking.
The closure of Greens changed one part of that identity, but it did not end his public career. Sunday Brunch remains his clearest current platform, and its continued run means the partnership first established with Lovejoy on BBC Two is still active years after both men moved to Channel 4.
For viewers, that longevity is one of the most distinctive parts of Simon Rimmer’s story. He did not arrive through a televised cooking competition or a famous Michelin-starred kitchen. He learned to cook because a small business required him to, then turned that experience into a career spanning restaurants, publishing and broadcasting.
Conclusion
Simon Rimmer’s career stands out because it began with a practical problem rather than a carefully planned route into celebrity food culture. Buying Greens pushed a textile designer into a professional kitchen, where he developed a reputation for vegetarian cooking and built the experience that later carried him onto television.
More than three decades later, Greens has closed, but Rimmer remains a visible part of British food broadcasting through Sunday Brunch. His continuing relevance comes from that combination of chef, restaurateur, author and presenter, all linked to the unexpected decision that started his career.
FAQs.
What is Simon Rimmer best known for?
Simon Rimmer is best known as the chef and co-presenter of Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch alongside Tim Lovejoy. The pair previously worked together on BBC Two’s Something for the Weekend before moving to Channel 4 in 2012.
Is Simon Rimmer a trained chef?
No. Rimmer is self-taught. He studied fashion and textile design before moving into the kitchen after taking over Greens with Simon Connolly. He has said that financial circumstances meant he could not simply employ a chef, so he learned to cook himself.
Does Simon Rimmer still own Greens?
No. The original Greens in West Didsbury closed in January 2024, while the later Sale branch closed in September 2024. Both restaurants are now closed.
Is Simon Rimmer still on Sunday Brunch?
Yes. September 2026 television listings show Simon Rimmer and Tim Lovejoy continuing to present new episodes of Sunday Brunch on Channel 4.
Is Simon Rimmer married?
Public interviews identify Rimmer’s wife as Ali, and the couple have two children. He generally keeps family life more private than his television and restaurant career.
What is Simon Rimmer’s net worth?
There is no reliably verified public figure for his personal net worth. Although he has had restaurant, television, publishing and business interests, those activities do not provide enough information to calculate his personal wealth accurately.
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