Blunos is from
Bath, Somerset. His parents came from
Latvia to England just after the World War II. Martin attended
Thornbury Castle School, where he excelled in Home Economics. After completing his schooling, Blunos learned his craft through college training in
Cheltenham and
Cambridge. His cooking style is influenced by his half Russian half Latvian mother. He did a spell at the
Strand Palace Hotel in London, a season in Switzerland and went on a Greek tycoon's yacht before settling down in a job at Lampwick's in
Battersea, London. Blunos's first restaurant as chef and owner was
Lettonie (French for Latvia) in
Bristol, which opened in 1988 with a Franco-British style of cooking with some Eastern European elements. He felt at the time that his fellow chefs didn't give him much credit, as he wasn't well known prior to winning the accolades from Michelin. Blunos cooked for Queen
Elizabeth II and the
Duke of Edinburgh whilst they were visiting Bath as part of the
Golden Jubilee tour, in 2002. His two-year contract at the Lygon Arms allowed him the freedom to appear on television and it was agreed that he wouldn't be required at the restaurant every day. In 2010, Blunos became executive chef for Crown Hotels, owners of restaurants at
Whitebrook and
Celtic Manor. As part of his appearance at the Frome Cheese Show in September that year, Blunos developed what he hoped to be declared the world's most expensive cheese sandwich. It contained cheddar mixed with
white truffles and sprinkled with edible gold dust, and cost £110.59. Crown subsequently began to manage the restaurant at The Parc hotel in Cardiff, owned by
Thistle Hotels. The restaurant earned two
AA Rosettes, but the partnership between Crown Hotels and Thistle Hotels ended in August 2011. The arrangement between Crown and Blunos ended in 2012 after catering was taken back in-house by Celtic Manor. Later that year, he was appointed as culinary director of the restaurants at the Hogarth Hotel in
Dorridge, West Midlands. His appointment was part of a £4 million investment into the hotel by owners Helena and Andy Hogarth. He has also teamed up with the Devon-based Mad About Pies company, which launched a range of Martin Blunos Gastro Pub Pies to be stocked in
Co-operative Food stores. It is part of an expansion by the company which looked to increase its production to 10,000 pies a week by the end of May 2012. In 2016, Blunos became executive chef for Bespoke Hotels, initially at The Talbot Inn,
Ripley, Surrey. Since 2017 he has been based in
Bangkok, operating two restaurants, "Blunos" and from 2021 the outdoor rooftop "In The Pink". In 2022 he also became involved with the
Crystal Palace, London restaurant "Tell Tale".
Television work Blunos now concentrates on consultancy and television work. He is a regular contributing chef on
Food Poker and a guest chef on
Cooks. He is also associated with
Great Food Live,
Food Uncut,
Saturday Kitchen,
The Supersizers Eat... and
Iron Chef UK. Prior to appearing on
Iron Chef, Blunos watched some episodes of
Iron Chef America but thought that the chefs on the British version were equal to their American counterparts. He was the first "Iron Chef" to be selected on the show and appeared in the opening episode. He also had his own show,
Tasting Times with Martin Blunos. Blunos also competed in
Iron Chef Thailand several times as a challenger chef, since February 2018. Following his good results as a challenger (2 wins, 2 losses) and his contribution to the development of the program, he has been promoted to the new Iron Chef Thailand since October 2022. ==Personal life==