For Media & Press
Press.
Coverage, credentials and resources for journalists writing about Chef Robert Thompson MBE, RT Café Grill and Thompson's on the Isle of Wight.
Press enquiries
Get in touch.
For interviews, image requests, review bookings or comment, please get in touch directly. We aim to respond to media enquiries within 24 hours.
Telephone
Address
Royal Maritime House
17 St. Thomas Street
Ryde, Isle of Wight, PO33 2DL
Recognition
Selected coverage.
A few of the places RT Café Grill and Chef Robert Thompson MBE have been written about.
National Geographic Traveller
In a guide to eating on the Isle of Wight, garlic producer Natasha Edwards names RT Café Grill as her recommendation for a special meal on the island.
Read the article →
The MICHELIN Guide
RT Café Grill is listed in the MICHELIN Guide, Great Britain & Ireland. Chef Robert Thompson MBE previously held Michelin stars at Winteringham Fields and The Hambrough.
View the listing →
The Good Food Guide
A full review of RT Café Grill, describing Robert as the pre-eminent figure in the island's fine dining scene, and the restaurant as a casual, all-purpose venue with the feel of a grand private home.
Read the review →
British Restaurant Awards
RT Café Grill was named Best New Restaurant in the UK in 2024. Robert Thompson was named Best UK Chef in 2025.
About RT Café Grill →
Archive
In the press.
June 2026
National Geographic Traveller
Where to eat on the Isle of Wight, according to a local producer
January 2025
Restaurant Industry Magazine
Interview — on the Michelin star, the MBE, and building a positive kitchen culture
2024
Isle of Wight County Press
Chef Robert Thompson on his new Isle of Wight restaurants
February 2024
Harden's
Isle of Wight chef Robert Thompson is making moves
February 2024
Hospitality & Catering News
Chef Robert Thompson MBE announces new Isle of Wight opening
February 2024
Hampshire Biz News
Star chef set to head up new Ryde eatery as Thompson's relocates
Podcast
The FoodTalk Show
Chef Robert Thompson MBE on a journey of happy re-invention
Profile
Great British Chefs
Chef profile — career, cooking style and Isle of Wight produce
Archive
The Caterer
Ongoing coverage across Robert's career on the Isle of Wight
For your copy
About Robert Thompson MBE.
Approved biography and background — please feel free to use directly.
Short biography — 50 words
Robert Thompson MBE is the chef-patron of RT Café Grill and Thompson's in Ryde, Isle of Wight. In 2007 he became the youngest British chef to be awarded a Michelin star in his own right, and in 2009 brought the Isle of Wight its first. He was awarded an MBE in 2023.
Full biography — 150 words
Robert Thompson MBE has been a defining figure in Isle of Wight dining for close to two decades. Born in Bedfordshire and inspired to cook by his brother Patrick, he was washing up in a professional kitchen by thirteen.
At Winteringham Fields in Lincolnshire, he took over as head chef and was awarded a Michelin star in 2007 — at 25, the youngest British chef to receive one in his own right at that time. In 2009 he earned a second at The Hambrough in Ventnor, the Isle of Wight's first.
In 2015 he opened Thompson's in Newport, his first solo restaurant, which ran for nine years. In 2024 he moved the business to Royal Maritime House in Ryde, opening RT Café Grill — an all-day modern European bistro overlooking the Solent — with Thompson's returning as a tasting menu series in the cellar dining rooms below.
He was awarded an MBE in 2023 for services to hospitality, tourism and charity.
Please refer to the chef as "Chef Robert Thompson MBE" or "Robert Thompson MBE" on first mention.
Reference
Fast facts.
Location
Royal Maritime House, 17 St. Thomas Street, Ryde, Isle of Wight, PO33 2DL
Opened
RT Café Grill — March 2024
Thompson's — 2015 (Newport), returned 2025 as a tasting menu series
The venues
All-day bistro, garden terrace and bar, afternoon tea, two private dining rooms, and the Thompson's tasting menu
Private dining
Two cellar rooms — The 1982 (8–16 guests) and The 1945 (12–22 guests), both looking into the wine cellar
Thompson's tasting menu
Six, seven or eight courses. From £100 per guest. A handful of dates each year, in the cellar dining rooms
Also from Robert
YouBeChef — chef-designed meal kits, launched during lockdown and still running
Resources
Images & assets.
High-resolution photography is available to media on request — restaurant interiors and the garden terrace, plated dishes, and portraits of Robert at work. Please get in touch and let us know what you need and roughly when you're publishing.
The venues
Interiors, the garden terrace and bar, the cellar dining rooms, and exterior shots of Royal Maritime House
The food
Plated dishes from RT Café Grill and the Thompson's tasting menu, plus afternoon tea
The chef
Portraits and working shots of Robert in the kitchen, and the RT Café Grill wordmark