Chef Revelations – Thomas White
What was your best subject at school? German
What was your first job in catering? Commis chef at the Crown in Bray
What do you normally have for breakfast? Cigarettes and coffee
What is your favourite restaurant? Many - Morgan M, the Fat Duck, Good Friends Chinese restaurant in Brighton
What is your favourite hotel? Drakes in Brighton
What is your favourite drink? The Dark Star Brewing Company makes pretty much the best beer I've ever tasted and you can't beat a Gin Martini made by my mate Stu Roberts at Fizz Bar in Koh Tao
What is your favourite cuisine? French
Which ingredient do you hate the most? Out-of-season tomatoes don't taste very good
Are there any foods/ingredients that you refuse to cook with? Frozen fish
What flavour combinations do you detest? Balsamic reduction on salad
What do you always carry with you? A sense of humour
Which person in catering have you most admired? Morgan Meunier of Morgan M restaurant
Who is your greatest inspiration? My mum (she's an amazing cook)
Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take? My wine collection and a bottle opener
If not yourself, who would you rather have been? Bob Marley
What irritates you most about the industry?
People who don't realise how much dedication and hard work it takes, and people who think they can run a restaurant but don't have a clue
When and where was your last holiday? I've just returned from a one-year working holiday in Thailand's Koh Tao
If you had not gone into catering, where do you think you'd be now? On Sairee beach in Koh Tao at the Vibe Bar sipping a Heineken
What is your favourite prepared product? Fresh puff pastry
If a film was made about your life, who would you get to play you? Heath Ledger if he was still alive
What's your favourite book? Marco Pierre White's White Heat and Leaves from the Walnut Tree: Recipes of a Lifetime by Ann and Franco Taruschio
Who would be in your fantasy brigade? Morgan Meunier and Sylvain Soulard from Morgan M, Jack Scaterfield from fellow Young's pub the Britannnia, Kris Beton from Lion and Lobster in Brighton and my dear friend Deidre Kane currently being a mum to three
Thomas White is head chef at Bishop Out Of Residence, Kingston-upon-Thames