Revelations: Glynn Purnell

Glynn Purnell, chef-patron, Purnell's, Birmingham

 

What was your first job?
I was a paperboy. I had three paper rounds

 

What was your first job in catering?
I washed up and was a short order chef at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham

 

What's your favourite hotel?
I recently went to New York and stayed at the Algonquin, which is a beautiful, historic hotel in Midtown Manhattan

 

Which ingredient do you hate the most?
Sprouts. They taste like they smell

 

Are there any foods/ingredients that you refuse to cook with?
I refuse to cook with any factory farmed animals, like battery eggs or caged chickens. They're just not truly sustainable or produced in the correct manner

 

What flavour combinations do you detest?
Aston and Villa

 

What do you always carry with you?
My wallet. And confidence

 

Which person in catering have you most admired?
I admire anyone who puts on an apron and does a shift in the kitchen, to be honest

 

What do you do to relax?
I fly fish and I drink Guinness

 

Which person gave you the greatest inspiration?
I couldn't choose between Claude Bosi and Andreas Antona. Andreas gave me my first insight into a high-end restaurant, while Claude inspired me to go on and cook my own style of food

 

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?
King Leonidas of Sparta. Or Willy Wonka. I'd love to have a chocolate factory. I will one day

 

Describe your ultimate nightmare
Warm beer, other people's cheeky kids and Aston Villa FC

 

Tell us a secret…
I got a ‘D' in my GCSE cookery

 

What irritates you most about the industry?
People who talk the talk but can't walk the walk

 

When did you last eat a hamburger?
Does a sausage and egg McMuffin count? If so, yesterday

 

Who would play "you" in a film about your life?
Gerard Butler

 

If you had more time, what would you do?
Spend more time with my kids. I'd learn how to sail, to climb mountains. I'd learn languages. I'd paint more, fish more. And I'd learn to ride a horse