Chef of Chefs for Marco

Marco Pierre White has been named Britain's first ever Chef's Chef of the Decade. In a poll of almost 2,000 of his peers the original celebrity chef, famed as much for his fiery temper as his Michelin stars, was judged to be the greatest influence of the past 10 years. He left two of the men who taught him the trade - Raymond Blanc and Pierre Koffman - in second and third place.

The accolade will be bestowed on Monday at the launch of the AA's latest restaurant guide. Ironically White, who retired last year at 37, has never won their annual Chef of the Year award, despite becoming the first British chef to be awarded five AA rosettes in 1990.

White, who rose to become the most Michelin-starred British chef of all time, even plans to break his career-long habit of shunning awards ceremonies. It will be the first time the chef has turned up at such a ceremony since 1987 - when he won a prize as best newcomer after borrowing £45,000 to open Harveys in Wandsworth. Three years later, at 28, he became the youngest chef to win two Michelin stars and, in 1995, he achieved a third star, putting him in the world's elite.

Last year he decided to concentrate on his family and a growing restaurant empire, with The Oak Room, Mirabelle, Titanic, Criterion, Quo Vadis, Caf? Royal Grill Room and recently MPW Brasserie.

"What is important to me is that the man who has a one-star restaurant in the north of England or two stars in Wales or Northern Ireland has had a say in this award," he said.

"I have proved that a boy from a working-class background can actually get on in life - and that you don't have to go to France to win three Michelin stars." He also feels proud of turning cooking into a glamorous occupation, saying: "I believe I have put a lot back into the industry."

He will not be drawn into the most recent controversy over Delia Smith's attack on some of her fellow chefs, taking an uncharacteristically reasoned view of the spat. "We are all making a living," he says. "You can't knock Delia for what she does and you can't knock Antony [Worral Thompson]."

Marco the multi-millionaire entrepreneur might almost seem a changed creature, if it were not a mere three weeks since he expelled the editor of a prominent restaurant guide from one of his restaurants. But he claims he really has mellowed.

"My memory of the early Nineties is pretty vague because I was so engrossed in trying to win three stars. It was an addiction and my health suffered. I became a manic depressive.

"Now my goals are holding my family together, being a good father and a good husband. And being kind to myself, I suppose."