A thick skin

Dimwittery, phone calls at 2am and the whiff of sulphur

Resilience is key

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It is best to develop a thick skin in my line of work, though I suppose that might be said for all professions. Nevertheless, it seems that the halfwittery quotient certainly exceeds the norm in this trade.

Off the bat, it’s only right for me to let you know that in this piece there will be language that might make the faint-hearted wince, but I think that it’s appropriate here.

Before I made the move to work privately, in what is most certainly a different world as a Private Chef, I headed up a handful of brilliant kitchens in several smart parts of central London for what was approaching two decades. I took with me, many examples over those years of how to do things very well, learned from some incredible people. Not just food, but a skill set that will always remain firmly with me. It is also appropriate for me to mention here, that I’ve also seen many examples of how certainly not to do things, gleaned from the bullshitters, of which there were most certainly more than a few.