Jump to content

Michael Zee

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Zee
Born (1982-09-08) 8 September 1982 (age 43)
Warrington, England
Alma mater
Years active2013–present
Spouse
Mark van Beek
​
(m. 2017)​

Michael Zee (born (2 September 1985) is an English food blogger, photographer and author. His cookbook Zao Fan: Breakfast of China (2025) won a Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Award.

Early life

[edit]

Zee was born the youngest of four and grew up in Runcorn, Cheshire. His paternal grandfather arrived in Liverpool from Shanghai in the 1930s, with roots in Zhoushan Island and opened local Chinese restaurants; the rest of his heritage is Scottish and English.[1][2] Zee graduated with a degree in Photography from Arts University Bournemouth. After working as a school teacher, he completed a Master of Arts (MA) in Museums and Galleries from the UCL Institute of Education.[3]

Career

[edit]

In 2013 while working in the Learning Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A),[4] Zee started an Instagram account under the username symmetrybreakfast to share photographs of "perfectly symmetrical" breakfasts he made for himself and his then partner, now husband Mark van Beek.[5] The account reached 600 thousand followers in 2016.[6][7] He was nominated for a Shorty Award in the Food category.[8]

Bantam Press (a Transworld Publishers imprint acquired the rights to publish Zee's debut cookbook SymmetryBreakfast: Cook-Love-Share was published in 2016.[9] Inspired by his Instagram feed, the cookbook contains breakfast recipes from around the world.[10][11]

In 2019, Zee was contributing editor of Eat Like a Local: Shanghai for Bloomsbury Publishing and returned to the V&A, where his work was in displayed in the exhibition Food: Bigger Than the Plate.[4]

Zee reunited with Bloomsbury Publishing for the publication of his next cookbook Zao Fan: Breakfast of China in 2024.[12] The book is illustrated by Katy Wang.[13] Zao Fan won the Cookery Book award at the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards.[14] It was also named one of the best Chinese cookbooks of the year by Abha Shah of the Evening Standard.[15]

Personal life

[edit]

Zee began a relationship with Dutch fashion designer Mark van Beek in 2012. The couple married in early 2017.[16] They have lived in Hackney, Shanghai and Italy.[17]

Bibliography

[edit]

Cookbooks

[edit]
  • SymmetryBreakfast: Cook-Love-Share (2016)
  • Zao Fan: Breakfast of China (2024)

Edited

[edit]
  • Eat Like a Local: Shanghai (2019)

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Lau, Jenny (30 January 2021). "#ChineseFoodiesofIG: Michael Zee of Symmetry Breakfast". Celestial Peach. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  2. ↑ Kleiman, Evan (15 November 2024). "Wake up to a Chinese breakfast with Michael Zee". KCRW. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  3. ↑ "powerHouse Books Launch: SymmetryBreakfast by Michael Zee with Julie and Dan Resnick of @thefeedfeed". Powerhouse Books. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  4. 1 2 Flood, Catherine (4 September 2019). "The most beautiful meal of the day: an interview with Symmetry Breakfast's Michael Zee". V&A. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  5. ↑ Lewy, Ruth (24 November 2014). "When your breakfast goes viral: the prettiest fry-ups in Britain". Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  6. ↑ Blanchard, Tamsin (21 August 2016). "SymmetryBreakfast recipes: five hits from the Instagram favourite". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  7. ↑ "Why we find symmetry so soothing". BBC Three. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "Symmetry Breakfast - Food". Shorty Awards. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  9. ↑ Cowdrey, Katherine (20 October 2015). "Transworld acquires Instagram-inspired cookbook". The Bookseller. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  10. ↑ Schreiber, Abby (4 January 2017). "How a 'Morning After' Breakfast Turned Into a Wildly Popular Instagram Account and a Book Deal". Paper. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  11. ↑ Reitman, Matthew (17 August 2016). "A New Cookbook from the Instagram Celebrity Who Makes Breakfast into Art". InsideHook. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  12. ↑ Jiang, Yi (23 April 2024). "Book review of Zao Fan by Michael Zee". BookPage. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  13. ↑ Brehaut, Laura (24 May 2024). "Cook This: 3 Chinese breakfast recipes from Zao Fan, including hand-pulled noodles". National Post. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  14. ↑ Jenny (2 May 2025). "Fortnum & Mason winners 2025". Eat Your Books. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  15. ↑ Shah, Abha (17 February 2026). "Tired of takeout? These 2026 Chinese cookbooks will help you master authentic flavours at home". Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  16. ↑ "Shanghai Famous: Symmetry Breakfast's Michael Zee". Smart Shanghai. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  17. ↑ "Symmetry Breakfast's Michael Zee Says Farewell to Shanghai". Smart Shanghai. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Zee&oldid=1354214541"