Revelations – Aktar Islam
What was your best subject at school? PE
What do you normally have for breakfast? Cereal normally, but traditionally on a Saturday smoked salmon with eggs, and on a Sunday a fry-up
Which is your favourite restaurant? Opus and Simpson's, both in Birmingham
What's your favourite hotel? The Hilton at Trafalgar Square
What is your favourite drink? A G&T made with Tanqueray No 10
What is your favourite cuisine? Indian and modern British
What flavour combinations do you detest? Sweet and sour Chinese
Where was your last holiday? South Africa
What do you always carry with you? My knives
Which person gave you the greatest inspiration? Marco Pierre White
Which ingredient do you hate the most? Any kind of food colouring or flavour enhancers
Which person in catering have you most admired? Gordon Ramsay. I have followed him for years and to work with him [on The F Word] was a great endorsement
What daily newspaper/website do you read?The Birmingham Mail and www.thetimes.co.uk
If not yourself, who would you rather have been? Matthew Fort - he was a laugh a minute on Market Kitchen
If you had not gone into catering, where do you think you would be now? Aeronautics - it's a passion of mine
Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take? My electric toothbrush and hair straighteners - but, of course, that's not good if there's no electricity!
Who would be in your "fantasy" brigade? Adam Bennett and Luke Tipping, Simpson's; Andy Waters, Edmunds; David Colcombe, Opus Restaurant; Glynn Purnell, Purnell's
What's your favourite book?White Heat by Marco Pierre White
What irritates you most about the industry? The fact that the Indian sector has a lack of diversity. They are unwilling to push themselves and remain very stagnant in their product offering and business model
Aktar Islam is chef-director of the Lasan Group