Revelations: Arnaud Stevens, owner and chef-director, Plate, London
What was your best subject at school?
Being half-French, unsurprisingly it was French
What was your first job?
I started out at the Imperial hotel in Torquay
What was your first job in catering?
Luckily, I got straight into catering at the Imperial. It was a brilliant place to learn my craft and has been crucial to getting where I am today
What do you normally have for breakfast?
My everyday breakfast would be a quick lemon, ginger and manuka honey Pukka tea, but if I have more time on a weekend it would have to be duck eggs, sausage and bacon from a local source
What's your favourite hotel?
The QC Terme Bagni Di Bormio hotel in Italy. I stayed there while skiing last year and it had the best five-star service and the spa facilities were incredible
What is your favourite drink?
A good-quality sloe berry gin and tonic by Warner Edwards
Which ingredient do you hate the most?
Bananas
Which person in catering have you most admired?
That has to be Ollie Dabbous, what he's done with Hide is another level. It's fantastic to achieve that at such young age
Which person gave you the greatest inspiration?
Richard Corrigan. Although his food is somewhat traditional, he has a very innovative brain. He uses simple ingredients but in a way that makes them shine
Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take?
A non-stick pan
If not yourself, who would you rather have been?
Probably a footballer. Aside from food, it's my other biggest passion
If you had not gone into catering, where do you think you would be now?
I'd be a French teacher
Describe your ultimate nightmare?
Tell us a secret…
I love fizzy cola bottle sweets and can't go a week without them
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