My first proper kitchen was this funny little club that we set up in Mercer Street in Covent Garden. It got shut down. Then I worked at a club in Notting Hill.

I've probably got lots of heroes. One is a chap called Charles Campbell - he is a wonderful chap. We cooked together in a nightclub in Notting Hill. He told me brilliant stories of food and life and generally put me on the right track.

We'd worked for the previous board, ... so we knew the proper way to run the club. In the very first week, Darren Brown was paying money out with no invoices, so we began to keep a log.

I had a holiday job in a kitchen, but I think we'll draw a polite veil over that. There was nothing joyous or creative about it. And none of this helped my studies.

We live in a flat; my wife would be happy if we had a house with stairs. Or a little cottage in the country.

A pig's trotter is a fantastic thing. The first night of my honeymoon in Paris, my wife fell asleep in her steak tartare, so my trotter kept me company.