Revelations: Richard Allen, executive chef, the Orangery, Rockliffe Hall, Darlington

13 January 2019 by
Revelations: Richard Allen, executive chef, the Orangery, Rockliffe Hall, Darlington

What was your first job?

I was a postman, but only lasted two weeks

What was your first job in catering?

I was a kitchen porter at a hotel in Bournemouth

What do you normally have for breakfast?

I normally skip breakfast, but I am partial to a scrambled egg

What do you do to relax?

Which is your favourite restaurant?

Ynyshir

What's your favourite hotel?

Gilpin in the Lake District

What is your favourite drink?

Does it have to be just one? I love a good Bloody Mary or an extra-large G&T

Which person in catering have you most admired?

Anyone who gets up every day and gives it their all

Which person gave you the greatest inspiration?

My father, he's one of the hardest-working people I've ever known. I grew up enjoying the beautiful aromas of freshly baked bread and it sparked a love affair with food

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

An airplane

What daily newspaper/website do you read?

I've honestly never read a newspaper in my life, although I have pretended to on occasion

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?

Jim Morrison from The Doors

If you had not gone into catering, where do you think you would be now?

Teaching of some kind

Describe your ultimate nightmare?

Your wife saying two hours into a road trip: "Did you lock the back door?"

Where was your last holiday?

It would have been the south of France but we missed the flight because we had to check the back door!

What's your favourite film?

Scarface

What irritates you most about the industry?

No-shows

Tell us a secret…

My real favourite film is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Get The Caterer every week on your smartphone, tablet, or even in good old-fashioned hard copy (or all three!).

Continue reading

You need to be a premium member to view this. Subscribe from just 99p per week.

Already subscribed?

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking