Sally Abé was born in Nottingham. Sally came to London in 2007 at the age of 20 to undertake a year placement at The Savoy – and then never left. She went on and  joined Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s later that year, before going on to work at The Ledbury, Elysian Street, The Harwood Arms, the Pem, and now The Bull Charlbury. She has also worked as the Technical Food Editor at Great British Chefs.

As Head Chef at The Harwood Arms – which remains London’s only Michelin-starred pub, Sally led the kitchen for over four years. She not only retained the Michelin star but also placed the pub at number one on Estrella Damm’s Top 50 Gastropubs list for the first time in its history.

In 2021, Sally was appointed Consultant Chef at Conrad London St. James, overseeing the launch of four new food and drink concepts in Westminster. Shortly after, Sally opened The Pem – her first standalone restaurant – within Conrad London St. James, named after suffragette Emily Wilding Davison.

Sally is  a familiar face on TV, regularly appearing on Saturday Kitchen Live, James Martin’s Saturday Morning, and reaching the banquet with her starter on Great British Menu 2025.

In 2024, Sally published her first book, A Woman’s Place is in the Kitchen, a memoir of her life in hospitality that explores the highs, lows, and urgent need for change within the hospitality industry.

It tells the story of Sally’s rise to become an award-winning chef in the brutal world of restaurant kitchens; how a girl from the Midlands who used to cook herself Smash to get by is now one of the most successful fine-dining chefs working today. The book won ‘Best Debut Food Book’ at the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards.

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