I came to cooking by accident, when a friend of my father’s was looking for a commis at Sonny’s in Barnes, when it opened in 1986. I found it exhilarating and that I had talent for it. I went on to work at 192 before moving to The River Café. This is where I really cut my teeth and blossomed. Busy shifts where a joy to work and after a while Rose Gray let me have the freedom to cook as I felt (obviously within boundaries), she gave me the confidence to create and grow. I worked there for five years, taking more and more responsibility, and eventually running shifts. I left to open a restaurant with Sam Clark, who I had worked with at the River Cafe and during the process of opening Moro enjoyed many months working at the Eagle, conveniently just around the corner from the building site that was to become Moro. After that great success, I felt the time was right to move on, cooking in a kitchen with a married couple was always going to be a lonely business. I opened Cigala in January 2001, concentrating on Spanish food, which had been a passion since my mother moved there in 1983. This was a greatly enjoyable part of my life, especially with my children growing up and working there as well. Sadly, this closed in 2019. Since then, I have been helping out my old friend and head chef from Cigala at his restaurant in Holloway, Picholine.