Chef revelations: Calum Franklin, head chef, Holborn Dining Room

What was your first job?

Shelf stacker at the local supermarket

What was your first job in catering?

Kitchen porter and proud of it

What do you normally have for breakfast?

Coffee and a protein ball on the Tube

What do you do to relax?

Eat at other people's restaurants

What is your favourite restaurant?

Sushi Tetsu in Clerkenwell

What is your favourite hotel?

I'm an Airbnb guy

What is your favourite drink?

Old Jamaica ginger beer

What is your favourite cuisine?

Chinese street food

Any food/ingredients that you refuse to cook with?

If an ingredient is challenging to cook, that's part of the fun

What flavour combinations do you detest?

Liquorice with fish

Which person in catering have you most admired?

Which person gave you the greatest inspiration?

Anyone who has doubted me

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?

I'd have loved to have been a fighter - I find it compelling as a sport

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

Swingball

Describe your ultimate nightmare

Developing food allergies

Tell us a secret…

I like services where things hang by a thread sometimes - it offers a bit of excitement!

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

Something in design - I'm a bit obsessive about detail

What irritates you most about the industry?

Names on jackets - are we still doing this?

Who would be in your fantasy brigade?

Daniel Calvert (Epicure at Le Bristol hotel, Paris), Rory Lumsden (Meikles hotel, Zimbabwe), Daniele Tarasco (No 8 by John Lawson, Melbourne), Gary Usher (Sticky Walnut, Chester) and Alan Irwin (the Vine, Sevenoaks)