Chef revelations: Mark Freeman head chef, Grey restaurant, Hilton Cardiff

17 February 2017 by
Chef revelations: Mark Freeman head chef, Grey restaurant, Hilton Cardiff

What was your first job?
Trainee/commis chef at the Park hotel, Cardiff. I owe a lot to the late Ian Jack, the executive chef who gave me a chance.

What do you do to relax?
Eat out and watch Cardiff City FC

What's your favourite restaurant?
Pollen Street Social, London

What's your favourite hotel?
Hotel du Vin; I've stayed in a few

What's your favourite cuisine?
Indian food

Which ingredient do you hate the most?
Blue cheese

Are there any foods/ingredients that you refuse to cook with?
Cheap frozen meat that's full of water

What's your favourite drink?
Heineken or a G&T

What flavour combinations do you detest?
Roasted meats with fruit sauces

Which person in catering have you most admired?
Marco Pierre White

Which person gave you the greatest inspiration?
My father to make me succeed at what I wanted to do with my life

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?
Chris Coleman during Euro 2016

Tell us a secret…
I was a late 1980s/early 1990s raver and still go to dance music festivals

What irritates you most about the industry?
Young chefs who aren't prepared to put in the hard work to reap the rewards in years to come

Who would play you in a film about your life?
Ray Winstone

What's your favourite book?
White Heat

What is your favourite prepared product?
Welsh faggots

Who would be in your fantasy brigade?
Keith Clash (head chef, the Exchange hotel, Cardiff); Kieran Harry (business development chef, Bar Foods, Newport); Ifan Dunn (chef-proprietor, Bwyty Mawddach restaurant, Dolgellau; Padrig Jones (somewhere in South Wales); Peter Mannings (chief steward, Park Plaza hotel, Cardiff)

If you had more time, what would you do?
Spend more time with my wife Grace and my kids Ami and Charly

TagsHotels and Chef
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