Revelations: Candice Webber, head of food development, Vacherin, London

What was your best subject at school?

 

Japanese. I thought it might be very useful in Australia. Little did I know that any European language would have been far more helpful for my career

 

What was your first job?

 

Deliveries for my mum and stepdad's gourmet deli

 

What do you normally have for breakfast?

 

Overnight oats with chia seeds, flax, berries, almond butter, coconut and açai. It's
a powerhouse in a pot

 

Which is your favourite restaurant?

 

What's your favourite hotel?

 

Artist Residence - it's a boutique chain

 

What is your favourite drink?

 

Soda, lime and bitters, or an oat milk cortado

 

What is your favourite food?

 

I love street food and finding new spots - it's such a great platform for new business evolution

 

Which ingredient do you hate the most?

 

Liquid smoke - smoke it or don't! But don't fake it

 

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

 

Fish that isn't on the Marine Conservation Society's Good Fish Guide

 

How would you describe your desk?

 

A creative work in progress!

 

Which person in catering have you most admired?

 

The female chefs out there - Clare Smyth, Helena Rizzo, Elena Arzak and Dominique Crenn

 

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

 

My wife and son. I can make a fire, hunt for food, make tools and build a shelter, but time with them is precious and a seldom luxury that I value greatly

 

What daily newspaper/website do you read?

 

The Times, Foodism, The Gourmand, Root and Bone, Caffeine, Gourmet Traveller and a little bit of the Daily Mail

 

What irritates you most about the industry?

 

Sexism and the fact we judge a person by their name. I would like to see more diversity in senior levels of the catering industry

 

Who would be in your "fantasy" brigade?

 

I am working in that team now!

 

When did you last eat a hamburger?

 

Last week, it was mouthwateringly scrumptious, a real treat.

 

What's your favourite film?

 

Babette's Feast (1987)

 

Who would play "you" in a film about your life?

 

I'd love to say Cameron Diaz or Charlize Theron but it's probably more likely to be Drew Barrymore.

 

What's your favourite book?

 

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes, my father read it to me and now I read it to my son. Harold McGee and Thomas Keller are my go-to culinary books.

 

What is your favourite prepared product?

 

Oats, as they go through such a huge process before they even get to us.

 

If you had more time, what would you do?

 

Open a nonprofit café/bistro that serves awesome Aussie brunches, a farm to table experience. All the profits would go back into staff development, farming and training. Providing the next generation of chefs who understand not only real food and ingredients, but also business.