Revelations: Louis Korovilas, head chef, Tavolino, London

What was your best subject at school?

School wasn’t for me

What was your first job?

Scaffolder

What was your first job in catering?

Picking down rocket leaves at Locanda Locatelli

What do you normally have for breakfast?

Marmite on toast

What do you do to relax?

Listen to Magic Soul and drink Guinness

Which is your favourite restaurant?

The last memorable meal I had was at Ikoyi in St James’s

What’s your favourite hotel?

The Kinsterna hotel in the Peloponnese

What is your favourite food?

Dim sum

Which ingredient do you hate the most?

Red amaranth – looks like roses, tastes like swamp

Which person in catering have you most admired?

Giorgio Locatelli; an encyclopaedia when it comes to food and its roots

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?

My son, because then I’d have me for a dad

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

On a building site

What’s your favourite book?

Fuzz One: A Bronx Childhood

What irritates you most about the industry?

It’s good to take a compliment, but if you actually start believing that you’re a genius/artist/rockstar, then you are deluded

When did you last eat a hamburger?

Two days ago from Fat Boy BBQ at the Coal Rooms in Peckham and it was the lick

What’s your favourite film?

Carlito’s Way

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

Joe Pesci, that’s my guy

What is your favourite prepared product?

Galletti Condimento Agrodolce

If you had more time, what would you do?

I really want to get a dirt bike!