GhLinks Media
Award-winning restaurateur and BBC star Russell Norman has died aged 57 following a short illness in hospital, his business partner has announced.
Norman was best known for starting the Polpo chain of Italian restaurants, as well as its spin-offs Spuntino and Polpetto.
He was a well-known cookbook author and broadcaster who appeared on the BBC show Saturday Kitchen.
But behind the scenes, Norman was also a devoted father and husband to his wife, Jules McNally.
Jules McNally: Who is chef Russell Norman’s wife?
Jules McNally is known for being the wife of Russell Norman, and is also mother to his children.
Jules McNally is a private person, and not much is known about her life outside of her relationship with Russell Norman.
However, it is clear that she was a loving and supportive wife.
In an interview with The Independent in 2012, she said: “Unsurprisingly, food has always played an important part in our relationship.
“Russell wooed me with lovingly made dishes such as pea and mint risotto and I, then, was too intimidated to cook for him for two years.
“Before marriage and babies, on our frequent trips to Venice, we’d drift around the bacari scoffing baccala mantecato (which still tastes of romance to me) and getting rather smiley on prosecco and negroni.
“We’d talk about how great it’d be to eat and drink like that back home.”
She added: “Our date nights are precious and when we eat out in others people’s restaurants I’ve learned to make sure Russell sits facing the wall to prevent him doing his restaurant analysis over my shoulder.
“We share a love of unfussy food and are guilty of terrible inverse snobbery about effortful cooking – anything presented as a tower or with a foam.”
Did Russell Norman have any children?
During his life Russell had three children.
He had his son Ollie from a previous relationship.
Together with Jules, he welcomed two daughters – Martha and Mabel.
