Chef Revelations – Stephen Terry
Stephen Terry, chef-patron at the Hardwick, Abergavenny, talks about Rose Gray, TripAdvisor, Little Chef and his nightmare football team…
What was your best subject at school?
Art and design
What was your first job?
Saturday boy in a shoe shop
What was your first job in catering?
Weekend cook in the Little Chef on the A5 just outside Dunstable
What do you normally have for breakfast?
A coffee
Which is your favourite restaurant?
The River Café, London
What's your favourite hotel?
The Prince Maurice, Mauritius
What is your favourite drink?
Good wine. I like most varieties
What is your favourite food/cuisine? Decent Italian
Okra
Are there any ingredients you refuse to cook with?
Anything sub-standard - you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear
Which person in catering have you most admired?
Rose Gray for her absolute and pure pursuit of the best seasonal produce and preparing and serving it with such great confidence, knowledge and simplicity
Which person gave you the greatest inspiration?
Paul Ward, my lecturer at Barnfield College. If it weren't for him I don't know if I would have gone to work in London after college.
What irritates you most about the industry?
TripAdvisor and the people who write complaints on it. Grow some round ones and say something at the time instead of going home, drawing the curtains, turning off the light and logging on to TripAdvisor.
Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take?
My wife, my kids and an au pair!
What daily newspaper/website do you read?
The Times and the Daily Mail
If not yourself, who would you rather have been?
Bruce Wayne
Dijon mustard
Describe your ultimate nightmare?
Waking up a Chelsea supporter!
