Chef Revelations – Heinz Beck

What was your best subject at school? Mathematics

What was your first job in catering? Commis de cuisine at Hotel Holzapfel in Bad Füssing, Germany

What do you do to relax? Listen to classical music

Which is your favourite restaurant? San Lorenzo in Rome, a lovely little seafood restaurant

What do you normally have for breakfast? An espresso and a brioche

What's your favourite hotel? Conrad Maldives Rangali Hotel

What is your favourite drink? Dom Perignon Oenotheque Rosè

Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take? De Cecco Spaghetti no.12

How would you describe your desk? A perfectly well organised one

Which person gave you the greatest inspiration? My wife Teresa

Which person in catering have you most admired? Heinz Winkler

What daily newspaper/website do you read? Il Messaggero, an Italian newspaper

Are there any foods/ingredients that you refuse to cook with? I cannot cook with oysters as I am very allergic to them

If not yourself, who would you rather have been? A renowned artist

If you had not gone into catering, where do you think you would be now? Following my other passion, art

Describe your ultimate nightmare I never remember my dreams

When and where was your last holiday? In Grand Wailea Hotel in Maui, Hawaii, last August

Tell us a secret… You will have to read my book L'Ingrediente Segreto (The Secret Ingredient) to find out my secrets

What irritates you most about the industry? Unprofessionalism

What is your favourite food/cuisine? Italian cuisine

What's your favourite film? Rain Man

Who would play you in a film about your life? Brad Pitt

What's your favourite music? Anything by the Scorpions

What's your favourite book? The Leopard (Il Gattopardo), a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

What is your favourite prepared food product? Pasta in all sizes, forms and flavours

If you had more time, what would you do? I would travel more

Heinz Beck is head chef at Apsleys, A Heinz Beck Restaurant at the Lanesborough, London