Aikens married his partner of nine years Justine Dobbs-Higginson, a former Goldman Sachs banker, in Corsica in the summer of 2018. They have two daughters.
Half-French Ms Dobbs-Higginson, 41, was born in Tokyo, grew up in Hong Kong and went to university in America. She spent six years with Goldman Sachs and four with Deutsche Bank but now has her own “boutique” finance business in Covent Garden.
She said her role was to “make sure Tom’s interests are being protected”, adding: “That’s very important because I don’t want him to be taken advantage of and obviously he had a few issues in the past.
“I enjoy it, he’s my partner, and I want to see him succeed. It makes total sense for me to help out. You can end up in a situation where the other party can take advantage of you. I am all about making sure nobody takes advantage of Tom.
“I think Tom is extremely talented. I believe in him 200 per cent and I think there’s so much he can do. Obviously, he’s been very successful in his own right but I feel this is a perfect time to branch out and do more.”
Tom Aikens also named Tom Aitkens, is an English Michelin-starred chef. Aikens briefly worked for chefs in London and Paris restaurants.
Under his tenure from 1996 to 1999 as head chef and then chef patron, Pied à Terre earned its two Michelin stars in January 1997.
Aikens’s current restaurants include Michelin-starred London restaurant Muse, which opened in January 2020, and three hotel eateries in Abu Dhabi. He appeared on television, including Great British Menu as one of its contestants and then one of its veteran chef judges.
On 2 November 2006, Aikens opened a newer restaurant Tom’s Kitchen, which occupied a former site of a defunct pub The Blenheim, located at Cale Street near Aikens’s other eponymous restaurant.
Aikens won the Newcomer of the Year at the 2004 Catey Awards for his newly established eponymous restaurant. Among the top 100 most influential figures of the UK hospitality industry, The Caterer ranked Aikens 71st in 2005, 97th in 2006, 94th in 2010, and 89th in 2011.