Chef Revelations – Alex Standen

What was your first job?
Window cleaning during the school holidays and kitchen portering at weekends

What was your first job in catering?
I was a kitchen porter while at school, but my first chef job was as an apprentice at the Thistle Brighton

What do you normally have for breakfast?
Weetabix and many cups of tea

What's your favourite restaurant?
Michael Wignall at the Latymer at Pennyhill Park

What's your favourite hotel?
The Thistle Brighton still holds a special place in my heart, but Drakes in Brighton is so beautiful - it's where I spent my wedding night

What do you do to relax?
Play golf; go walking on the Sussex Downs or Surrey Hills; read cookbooks

What's your favourite food/cuisine?
British - I love stews and roasts, but also a great ploughman's in summer is unbeatable

What is your favourite drink?
Gin and tonic

Which person gave you the greatest inspiration?
My mum and dad have inspired me since day one and gave me the work ethic you need to succeed

Are there any foods/ingredients that you refuse to cook with?
Bluefin and yellowfin tuna

What do you always carry with you?
My iPhone and a Sharpie

Which ingredient do you hate the most?
Pineapple. I just really don't like the taste or texture

Tell us a secret...
I'm an absolute cookbook addict

Which person in catering have you most admired?
Not a person, but a family: the Rouxs, for their unwavering dedication to catering in this country. What they started will go on forever.

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?
Paul Weller, the Modfather

If you had not gone into catering, where do you think you would be now?
Working with my dad as a carpenter

Who would be in your fantasy brigade?
Larder - Josep Pages, Spain (somewhere); fish - Ben Miller, Ardington hotel, Worthing; sauce - me; pastry - Ivan Papette, Un Mundo Más Dulce, Estepona. I've never worked with any famous guys, but these boys can cook, and the laughter and jokes would be worth it

Alex Standen, head chef, the Ship hotel, Weybridge, Surrey