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!