Revelations: Niall Keating, executive head chef, Whatley Manor

What was your first job?
A helping hand as a gardener in the local village when I was 14

 

What was your first job in catering?
Pot-washer at the Fitzherbert Arms

 

What do you do to relax?

 

What do you normally have for breakfast?
Smashed avocado with nuts and seeds and three eggs

 

Which is your favourite restaurant?
Holborn Dining Room, London

 

What’s your favourite hotel?
Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur

 

What is your favourite drink?
Timothy Taylor’s Landlord

 

What is your favourite cuisine?
Wholesome home cooking â€" or ‘choose-your-weight’ steak

 

Which ingredient do you hate the most?
Beetroot and Gelespessa (a thickening agent)

 

What flavour combinations do you detest?
Orange chicken, Coronation chicken â€" just the worst

 

How would you describe your desk?
Immaculate

 

Which person in catering have you most admired?
The Roux Scholars. They are not all Michelin-starred chefs, but cooks who have proven to be masters of their profession

 

Which person gave you the greater inspiration?
The chefs who have taken risks, gone out there and grafted

 

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

 

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?
Dan Bilzerian (American poker player)

 

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

 

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

 

What is your favourite prepared product?
Gochujang and Kewpie mayonnaise

 

If you had more time, what would you do?
Sleep