Revelations: Shaun Rankin, Grantley Hall, Ripon

What was your best subject at school?

History. If I hadn’t become a chef, I think I would have liked to be a historian

What was your first job?

A paper round, when I was about eight years old

What was your first job in catering?

In a hotel in the Lake District

What do you normally have for breakfast?

It’s often brown toast and a banana or good old boiled eggs

What do you do to relax?

I go fishing. I’ve always loved it, and if you can’t find me in the kitchen, that’s probably what I’ll be doing!

Which is your favourite restaurant?

The French Laundry, Thomas Keller’s restaurant in California

What’s your favourite hotel?

The Dolder Grand in Switzerland

What is your favourite drink?

A glass of good wine

Which ingredient do you hate the most?

Tinned anchovies

What flavour combinations do you detest?

Ham and pineapple. A disgrace

What do you always carry with you?

My glasses and a notebook

Which person in catering have you most admired?

Ferran Adrià of El Bulli

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

Vintage Macallan whisky and a box of Davidoff cigars

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?

Sean Connery

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

A marine biologist – or a historian

Describe your ultimate nightmare?

Having to go to work... I am lucky I have a hard hobby!

When and where was your last holiday?

With my two boys Harry and Ethan in Mexico, five years ago

Tell us a secret...

I love a McDonald’s breakfast

What irritates you most about the industry?

People who are rude

What’s your favourite film?

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover – a classic