Put your head down and work hard. Never wait for things to happen, make them happen for yourself through hard graft and not giving up.

We launched it in the London branch - phenomenal sausages, incredible eggs, homemade baked beans, black pudding - and it's something I wanted to bring to Dubai.

I have to say, opening up in New York taught me a lot about that level of attention to detail. London's a tough market, Paris is a tough market, but New York, well, that's extraordinary.

Making pasta, cooking pasta and baking bread are two essential ideas to create a little bit of excitement, and you learn the basic, and then evolve it. Flavor the bread, flavor the pasta, go to a fish, go to a meat sauce and take it to another level.

Pressure's healthy. It becomes stressful when you can't handle that. I mean, if you don't want to become pressurized in this environment, then don't be a chef.

I quite like that jeopardy, those up-against-the-wall odds. I don't like it when it's over-comfortable, too easy, something that can be done in two or three weeks. I like a challenge.

Best to start at the bottom & gradually climb up. It's much more fun, too.