Revelations: Selin Kiazim, chef-director, Oklava and Kyseri, London

What was your first job?
Working in my dad's café as a waitress

 

What do you normally have for breakfast?

 

What do you do to relax?
Lie still… close my eyes… I tend to just chill out and watch a bit of Netflix

 

Which is your favourite restaurant?
Oh, that’s a tough one â€" I’ve got a few at the moment, but it’s probably got to be Sabor

 

What’s your favourite hotel?
The W hotel in Barcelona

 

What is your favourite drink?
A nice cold glass of white wine

 

What is your favourite food/cuisine?
I couldn’t quite possibly pick a cuisine, but anything cooked over a charcoal or wood grill

 

Which ingredient do you hate the most?
Saffron

 

Which person in catering have you most admired?
Peter Gordon, my old boss

 

Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take?
Maldon salt

 

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?
Maybe Meghan Markle?

 

If you had not gone into catering, where do you think you would be now?
I think I would have been somewhere abroad… I’d be on a beach being lazy!

 

Describe your ultimate nightmare?
When you have a god-awful service and you’re short-staffed and its really hot and it feels like it’s never going to end and it actually never ends!

 

Where was your last holiday?
Sweden, in an area called Storlien

 

What irritates you most about the industry?
Not being able to please everyone

 

Tell us a secret…
I love crisps

 

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