Steve Love won in 1997, at the age of 27 and did his stage at Alain Ducasse in Paris. He is now a consultant and private chef.

Steve grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon and started his formal training at Stratford College at 17, going on to do his apprenticeship at The Welcombe Hotel. He then went onto Ettington Park Hotel, where he was working as a sous chef when he won the Roux Scholarship.

After winning the competition, Steve did his stage at Alain Ducasse’s three-star-Michelin restaurant in Paris. It was here that Steve says his direction of food changed. He realised that the very best food being cooked was as a result of sourcing the best possible ingredients and treating them with absolute care and consideration.

On his return from Paris, he took a position working alongside Gary Jones (now Executive Chef at Le Manoir aux Quats Saisons) at the Waldo’s Restaurant at Cliveden. His career then took him to the role of Head Chef at Mallory Court in Leamington Spa, where he met his future wife Claire and within a year they opened Loves Restaurant in Leamington Spa in 2001. It was while Steve was here that he won the coveted National Chef of the Year for Great Britain 2004; he was the first Roux Scholar to hold both titles.

In 2009, Steve and his wife Claire relocated Loves Restaurant to Birmingham.  This was run to national acclaim until it closed in 2015, winning 3 AA Rosettes; of all Birmingham's restaurants it had the highest listing in the Top 100 Restaurants in the UK by The National Restaurant awards and was included in the Good Food Guide achieving 7/10 for dining.

They then brought their expertise to fellow restaurateurs in the industry by opening Love’s Consultancy, which helps advise on everything from negotiating commercial leases to kitchen design, as well as menu development and sommelier training.

In 2013, Steve entered and achieved the Master of the Culinary Arts run by the Academy of Culinary Arts. Currently only two people have ever held all three national competition titles, the other being Frederick Forster, a fellow Roux Scholar.

Most recently, Steve has also been working as a private chef aboard yachts for high-net worth individuals in Monaco.