Bernice Kariuki quits as Arsenal team chef

After two years at Arsenal, celebrated private chef Bernice Kariuki has announced she is leaving the English Premier League football team.

Under the leadership of Arsenal's executive chef, Kariuki has been cooking exclusively for first-team players, the management team and members of the club’s technical bench.

Announcing her departure in a social media post on Sunday, she said Arsenal’s 2022/2023 campaign was the best season for Arsenal, noting that it was humbling to work for the club.

“A final day flourish. Finished the season with a bang! Simply the best!!! Arsenal… Arsenal… Arsenal.. 2020/2023 the best special season ever I hang my gloves as a very proud chef it’s been a honour working for the best club in the whole world… I was truly humbled!” she wrote.

The chef also thanked Kenyans for their support, adding: “More blessings my next job it’s like dream royally truly humbled… Asanteni sana especially my country.”

Born and raised in Nairobi’s Jericho Estate, Kariuki joined Arsenal in mid-2021, on the heels of Mikel Arteta’s appointment as Arsenal's manager, as the first-team private chef.

"A girl from the ghetto Jericho living nothing but her dreams. May I reintroduce myself as Arsenal's first-team private chef," wrote Bernice on social media at the time following her appointment.

She also managed the daily well-being and nutrition of the team before and after matches, as well as menus for the travelling team.

Bernice’s resume boasts of past stints as a chef for swanky hotels in the United Kingdom, including The Lanesborough, The Dorchester and The Waldorf Hilton in London.

She is an alumnus of Westminster Kingsway College in London, where she studied culinary arts.