Revelations: Nico Fitzgerald, head chef, London Stock, Wandsworth

What was your best subject at school?

 

French – I’ve always had an ear for languages

 

What was your first job?

 

I used to take photos of used cars for a dealership for £30 a week

 

What was your first job in catering?

 

Food runner for the governor of Gibraltar

 

What do you normally have for breakfast?

 

Now that lockdown has given me the luxury of a slow morning, I normally have a couple of slices of sourdough toast topped with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and feta. Otherwise it would be a Huel shake as I run out the door!

 

Which is your favourite restaurant?

 

Wilsons in Bristol – it’s run by Jan Ostle and he cooks with amazing local meat and produce, a lot of which is grown by his wife, Mary

 

What’s your favourite hotel?

 

I’m more of an AirBnB kinda guy. I love finding little gems right in the heart of a city, where you’d never be able to fit a hotel and where you’re right in the midst of the hustle and bustle

 

What is your favourite drink?

 

An ice-cold pint of stout after dinner service on a Saturday

 

What is your favourite food/cuisine?

 

I grew up in Gibraltar where loads of different cuisines from around the Mediterranean and further afield come together. I love that multicultural environment and the amount of doors it opens to new cuisines and experiences

 

Which ingredient do you hate the most?

 

I absolutely detest raw peppers with a passion!

 

What flavour combinations do you detest?

 

It’s a weird one but I can’t stand eggs with ketchup

 

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?

 

I would have loved to be a chef at El Bulli towards the end of the 1990s and the early 2000s

 

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

 

I love the discipline of a kitchen, so I would probably have joined the Armed Forces

 

Describe your ultimate nightmare?

 

Spiders

 

What’s your favourite film?

 

Anything by Richard Curtis... I’ve watched Notting Hill more times than I can remember

 

What is your favourite prepared product?

 

Waitrose sushi