Revelations: Joe Fox, head chef, Townsend, Whitechapel Gallery, London

What was your best subject at school?

 

History, but to be honest I didn’t really get on with school. My favourite subject was riding my BMX

 

What was your first job?

 

My dad’s building site from 12 years old, pushing wheelbarrows about. At 15 I worked in an off licence called Unwins as a bottle boy, then I moved on to the kitchen, where I started as a kitchen porter and quickly became a commis chef

 

What do you normally have for breakfast?

 

Coffee and fresh apple juice

 

What do you do to relax?

 

Sleep, look after my daughter. I find foraging quite relaxing

 

Which is your favourite restaurant?

 

I love St John in Smithfield, Smoking Goat and Manteca, all in London

 

What is your favourite food?

 

I love Thai and French and Greek cuisine, all great

 

Are there any foods/ingredients that you refuse to cook with?

 

I stay away from low-welfare meat

 

What is your favourite drink?

 

Non-alcoholic: homemade sour cherry cordial with sparkling water and lime. Alcoholic: a cold Asahi Super Dry

 

What flavour combinations do you detest?

 

Smurf-flavoured ice-cream

 

Which person in catering have you most admired?

 

The Roux brothers, René Redzepi, Anthony Bourdain and Keith Floyd

 

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?

 

Jim Morrison in the Doors

 

If you had not gone into catering, where do you think you would be now?

 

Who knows, I do have a degree in graphic design and I enjoyed printmaking

 

Describe your ultimate nightmare?

 

Breakfast service with no eggs ready

 

Who would play “you” in a film about your life?

 

Bradley Cooper

 

What’s your favourite book?

 

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

 

Who would be in your “fantasy” brigade?

 

Gordon Ramsay, Paul Bocuse, a young Marco Pierre White, Michael Roux, Pierre Gagnaire, Michel Bras and Keith Floyd

 

If you had more time, what would you do?

 

Holiday with my family, sleep and ride my BMX