Having trained in Culinary Arts at the prestigious Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island, USA, Paula McIntyre returned to the UK in 1993 to open her own restaurant in Manchester. A busy and thriving eatery, The Undrie picked up several awards for fine dining including Manchester Evening News newcomer of the year and was featured in several guidebooks and magazines including City Life and Caterer and Hotelkeeper. 

Returning to Northern Ireland in 1998, Paula worked as Head Chef in several establishments including Ghan House in Carlingford and Fontana in Holywood. 

In 2000 Paula appeared as a guest chef on “Ready, Steady, Cook” beating Paul Rankin in her second appearance. She has been a guest chef on BBC Northern Ireland’s television coverage of the Balmoral Show and featured as a chef on the fly on the wall documentary on the catering industry in Northern Ireland, “A La Carte”. In Autumn 2001 Paula was given her own TV series on BBC 2 NI called “Taste for Adventure”. She appeared as a guest chef with Eamonn Holmes on BBC 1 NI’s “Summer Season” programme and was a reporter on food issues for BBC 1 NI’s “Inside Out” programme. She has also been a guest chef twice on RTE 1’s “Afternoon Show”. She regularly contributes to the archive television show “ Those were the days” and provides cooking inserts to the Ulster Scots TV show “Santer”.

A regular contributor to Radio Ulster, Paula was asked to develop her own series. The result “McIntyre Magic” was broadcast on Saturday Mornings and commissioned 3 times. Since 2004 has been hosting the cooking slot on Radio Ulster’s weekly “Saturday Magazine” show with John Toal. She also contributes regularly to BBC NI news, “Talkback”, “ The Book Programme”, “On your Behalf”, and the “Nolan Show”. In 2011 Paula contributed to the New York based morning show “ Carton and Boomer” live from the Bushmills distillery. 

Paula lectured in catering on the Professional Cookery programme in Northern Regional College for 20 years.  

Additionally she specialises in fine dining and catering for a variety of events and was chef for singer Brian Kennedy’s TV series “Kennedy on Song”. Guests on the programme included Lulu, Barry McGuigan, Michael Ball and Maire Brennan. 

She had a regular cooking column in Sunday Life newspaper for 2 years. Paula contributes to various papers in Northern Ireland including the Irish News, Newsletter and Belfast Telegraph. She writes a weekly column in Farming Life and the Belfast Telegraph Weekend Magazien. She regularly blogged for the Borough Market, in London, website and does demonstrations at the market.  

In 2014 she was chosen to represent the UK in the Terra Madre kitchen at the Salone del Gusto festival in Turin. In November 2015 she took over as Director of Slow Food NI, an international charity. 

She’s a board member of the “Building Me” charity based in Bushmills and on the board of hospitality’s “Springboard” charity to encourage young people into the industry. She is an ambassador for the Northern Ireland Kidney Research Fund.  

She has been a judge on Radio 4’s Food and Farming Awards for 5 years and contributes to the Food Programme. 

She is a regular panelist on the “Kitchen Cabinet” – a Radio 4 programme hosted by Jay Rayner. 

She works closely with Food NI and Invest NI to promote local produce both here and abroad. She has showcased food from NI twice in the House of Commons and regularly in the European Parliament. 

She is an ambassador for the Taste Causeway food network and has written a Taste Causeway cookbook about the chefs, farmers and producers in the region.  

In 2015 she won the Farming Life/Danske Bank Farming Champion Award and is the 2017 Restaurant Association of Ireland Food Hero for Ulster. 

Paula’s first book “ A Kitchen Year” was published in 2008 by Gill  

and Macmillan. Her second book “Down to Earth” was published in 2015. Her latest book “ Taste Causeway, Recipes and Stories” was published in 2022.  

In 2018 she was awarded an MBE for services to food, drink and hospitality. 

In January 2021 she was appointed as High Sheriff to County Londonderry. In 2022 she was appointed Deputy Lieutenant to County Londonderry.  

In 2021 she had her own TV show on BBC NI “ Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen” and a Burn’s Night special shown in January 2022. Her new series of “ Hamely Kitchen” was shown in September 2022. “Hamely Kitchen 3” is currently in production.