Kevin Noble

Kevin Noble, national chairman of the European Catering Association (GB) and senior manager with BE Services at the Bank of England, reveals all

1. What was your best subject at school?

Music

2. What was your first job?

Washer-up in my mother's transport café

3. What was your first job in catering?

Trainee with Savoy Group

4. What do your normally have for breakfast?

Black coffee and something baconish

5. What do you do to relax?

Listen to music and eat

6. Which is your favourite restaurant?

London's Joe Allen

7. What is your favourite drink?

Pol Roger Champagne

8. What ingredient do you hate the most?

Yogurt

9. What do you always carry with you?

My wallet

10. How would you describe your desk?

The loneliest and the least favourite place I know

11. Which person in catering have you most admired?

Prue Leith

12. Which person gave you the greatest inspiration?

Restaurateur Missao Costain, La Belle Epoque, Dorking, Surrey

13. Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take?

My piano

14. What daily newspapers do you read?

London's Evening Standard, The Sunday Times at the weekend

15. If not yourself, who would you rather have been?

Baroness Thatcher

16. If you hadn't gone into catering, where do you think you would be now?

Probably something to do with the theatre

17. Describe your ultimate nightmare?

Michael Winner and Fay Maschler dining together in one of my restaurants

18. Where and when was your last holiday?

Torrevieja, Spain, in June this year

19. Tell us a secret…

I have never held a golf club in my life

20. What irritates you most about hotels?

Grossly over-priced drinks in bars

21. When did you last eat a hamburger?

Two weeks ago at Wolfe's bar and grill, Covent Garden, London, served without bun, but with green peppercorn sauce