Ex-Marine Jack Clayton, head chef at the Scarlet hotel, on choosing Huel for breakfast

What was your best subject at school?

Technology and art

 

What was your first job?

Kitchen porter at my local pub in Nottingham when I was 14

 

What was your first job in catering?

Kelham House Country Manor in Newark

 

What do you normally have for breakfast?

Huel on workdays and eggs of some sort on my days off

 

What do you do to relax?

Spend time with my little boys exploring the local areas, foraging and fishing

 

Which is your favourite restaurant?

The best dining experience I have had was at Casamia in Bristol in the original location

 

What is your favourite drink?

Yorkshire Tea in the day, and a Dark and Stormy or Guinness at night

 

What is your favourite cuisine?

I’m partial to Thai or Asian food on my days off, I like that it’s fresh and light

 

Which ingredient do you hate the most?

Rock samphire (tastes like diesel) or edible flowers (flavourless)

 

Are there any foods/ingredients that you refuse to cook with?

Salmon or any other unethically farmed produce

 

Which person in catering have you most admired?

I admired Tom Aikens when I was growing up

 

Which person gave you the greatest inspiration?

Alain Ducasse has always been a massive inspiration

 

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

I would have carried on in the Marines if I wasn’t medically discharged due to a hernia

 

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

A hat, as I am very bald, or a decent bush knife

 

What irritates you most about the industry?

The stigma most kitchens have and the lack of unity with procedures

 

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

Some attractive bald man would be nice

 

What is your favourite prepared product?

I love an Opies pickled walnut