What was your best subject at school?
Mathematics
What was your first job in catering?
Commis de cuisine at Hotel Holzapfel in Bad Füssing, Germany
What do you do to relax?
Listen to classical music
Which is your favourite restaurant?
San Lorenzo in Rome, a lovely little seafood restaurant
What do you normally have for breakfast?
An espresso and a brioche
What's your favourite hotel?
Conrad Maldives Rangali Hotel
What is your favourite drink?
Dom Perignon Oenotheque Rosè
Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take?
De Cecco Spaghetti no.12
How would you describe your desk?
A perfectly well organised one
Which person gave you the greatest inspiration?
My wife Teresa
Which person in catering have you most admired?
Heinz Winkler
What daily newspaper/website do you read?
Il Messaggero, an Italian newspaper
Are there any foods/ingredients that you refuse to cook with?
I cannot cook with oysters as I am very allergic to them
If not yourself, who would you rather have been?
A renowned artist
If you had not gone into catering, where do you think you would be now?
Following my other passion, art
Describe your ultimate nightmare
I never remember my dreams
When and where was your last holiday?
In Grand Wailea Hotel in Maui, Hawaii, last August
Tell us a secret...
You will have to read my book L'Ingrediente Segreto (The Secret Ingredient) to find out my secrets
What irritates you most about the industry?
Unprofessionalism
What is your favourite food/cuisine?
Italian cuisine
What's your favourite film?
Rain Man
Who would play you in a film about your life?
Brad Pitt
What's your favourite music?
Anything by the Scorpions
What's your favourite book?
The Leopard (Il Gattopardo), a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
What is your favourite prepared food product?
Pasta in all sizes, forms and flavours
If you had more time, what would you do?
I would travel more
Heinz Beck is head chef at Apsleys, A Heinz Beck Restaurant at the Lanesborough, London