Revelations – Thomas Keller
What was your best subject at school? History
What was your first job? Busboy at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach, Florida
What was your first job in catering? Washing dishes for my mom - it's where I learned everything I needed to know about cooking
What do you normally have for breakfast? Cereal with low fat milk, seasonal fruit and an espresso
Which is your favourite restaurant? Yakitori Totto in New York; Ad Hoc in Yountville, California; and St John in London
What's your favourite hotel? The One & Only Palmilla resort in Los Cabos, Mexico
What's your favourite drink? A good bourbon
What do you do to relax? Play golf
What flavour combinations do you dislike? Chocolate and berries. It's a combination I don't really understand.
What do you always carry with you? Salt
Which person in catering have you most admired? Fernand Point
Which person gave you the greatest inspiration? Paul Bocuse
Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take? My iPad
What daily newspaper/website do you read? The New York Times
If not yourself, who would you rather have been? Henry Truman - our last great president
Describe your ultimate nightmare Doing a pop-up restaurant in London and having JJ Gill rip it apart
Tell us a secret… I love deep-fried Snickers bars
If you had more time, what would you do? Learn to fly a plane
What irritates you most about the industry? A lack of focus and knowledge
What's your favourite film? Gone With the Wind
What's your favourite book? Ma Gastronomie by Fernand Point
Who would be in your fantasy brigade? Eric Ziebold, Grant Achatz, Corey Lee, Paul Bocuse, Fernand Point, Alain Chapel
Thomas Keller is chef-patron of the French Laundry, California. He will be running the French Laundry pop-up restaurant at Harrods from 1-10 October
