I've lived in Wilmington, Kent, for the past 18 years. It means I have between an hour and an hour-and-a-half car journey to work each day, but I reason that getting around London by train from the suburbs takes nearly as long, and with the car I have the flexibility to visit our other sites.
I'll typically get up at 6am after several nudges from the missus. First job is to take my dog for his morning walk around the park. I always make sure I have breakfast, which might be a cup of tea, toast and porridge.
I'll arrive at the development centre, above one of our Café Rouge restaurants in Finchley, at about 8am, and put the kettle on for another cup of tea. The two other development chefs I work with arrive about 9am.
We opened the facility in May and it serves the entire group, which includes Café Rouge and the Bella Pasta brands. Basically, anything food-related at the company is our responsibility, from menu development to educating the chefs and area managers about dish changes.
When I was working for Whitbread, the former owner of Café Rouge and Bella Pasta, we had a food development manager who liaised with the marketing department and the development chefs, which we don't have here. It means I've assumed the role as part of my job. Let's just say I have a dynamic relationship with our marketing team. On the plus side, the decision-making process is much speedier.
Once the other guys arrive I'll attend to any outstanding issues there may be. For example, if we had a food show the evening before I'll need to phone suppliers and discuss ingredients. I'll also double-check my diary because I often have visits from suppliers showcasing their products.
In November I saw 22 suppliers and tasted about 200 ingredients, yet we probably end up using only half-a-dozen or so. The visits can mean your day is unusual; there have been days when I started at 9am tasting ice-cream, followed later by fish. It can be demanding on your stomach. Because of the size of Tragus, we often put products out for tender, which means I'm looking at four different types of oil at the moment just for frying. I can't just choose a product because it's the cheapest as the menus might suffer.
Training might start at 10am, with a presentation or hands-on preparation of dishes, which will include our area managers.
I don't break for lunch as I'm eating throughout the day and never feel hungry. I may top up on caffeine with a strong espresso, though.
Our new-dish food shows are usually organised by region, with 20 to 25 people attending. Tragus also uses our facility to carry out basic food hygiene training and staff induction.
If I'm out meeting suppliers I like to have lunch in the area. I'm always looking for fresh ideas, gaining inspiration about how someone's presented a dish or combined different flavours.
Typically my team and I will produce two core menus a year for our four different brands. However, on top of this we'll also need to prepare special menus, such as for Christmas, Easter and Mother's Day. We worked out that we were producing roughly 200 dishes and 30 menus each year.
I often end the day, about 3pm, by selecting a dish on one of the menus and cooking it to check the quality of the ingredients are still meeting our expectations. Once a month we'll have a formal cook-off with taste panel.
My biggest challenge when designing a new dish is reacting to the brief but devising a product that's balanced and workable. There's no point in me creating something so fancy that it can't be recreated at our other restaurants. The dishes on the menu must also meet the customers' expectations while still earning Tragus a decent profit.
I'll hit the North Circular road at about 6pm and be home by 7.30pm. I go down the gym two to three times a week with my family. You have to do that when you spend most of your day eating. I also play badminton.
I'll walk the dog again before bed. I don't usually turn in until midnight.
Just a minute
Favourite tipple?
An ice-cold beer, preferably Kronenbourg 1664 or Hoegaarden.
The Worst part of your job?
Writing the specification document once we sign a menu off. They're huge A4 things with loads of photographs.
Factfile:
- Tragus Holdings, 163 Eversholt Street, London NW1 1BU, Tel: 020 7121 3200, www.tragusholdings.com
- Brands: Bella Pasta, Caf‚ Rouge, Mamma Amalfi, Abbaye
- Formed in May 2002 after Whitbread sold the Pelican Group and BrightReasons Group to private-equity-backed Tragus Holdings. Owns 155 restaurants and has more than 3,500 staff.