“Eating out doesn’t have to be a formula. Eating out is about having fun. I get really frustrated when it’s badly done.”

It’s vulgar, coming from where I do, to talk about money.

They say cats have nine lives. I’ve had 12 already and I don’t know how many more I’ll have.

Would I swap what I have achieved as a cook if I could have been as successful as a footballer? Definitely.

The level of jealousy and insecurity in this industry [restaurant] is far greater than ever before.

I’d like to think I’m a great teacher.

I want my kids to see me as Dad, for God’s sake, not a television personality.

Put your head down and work hard. Never wait for things to happen, make them happen for yourself through hard graft and not giving up.

Chefs are nutters. They’re all self-obsessed, delicate, dainty, insecure little souls and absolute psychopaths. Every last one of them.

I don’t like looking back. I’m always constantly looking forward. I’m not the one to sort of sit and cry over spilt milk. I’m too busy looking for the next cow.

I think pressure’s healthy, and very few can handle it.

Cooking a dish is fine; cooking it under pressure is a completely different ballgame.

I don’t think it’s a good advert for any restaurant, a fat chef, and secondly, who wants to eat a dessert when the chef’s a fat pig.

We’re fragile, fragmented souls who are very sensitive to criticism.

Best to start at the bottom & gradually climb up. It’s much more fun, too.

If I relaxed, if I took my foot off the gas, I would probably die.

Being a chef is the best job in the world.