I have always been driven towards creative, outgoing professions. I even wanted to be a hairdresser for a while — being creative and working with people was what I really wanted to do. I got into food because I was never really around it. Growing up, I never had any amazing meals or [was] exposed to interesting produce. Curiosity was the first step followed by the craziness of being a chef and working in such a full on, fast-paced environment.

I’m half Italian and we would often go back to visit family. I remember being eight years old and seeing all the nonnas getting up at six in the morning to roll pasta and make tortellini. Lunch was an event taken very seriously, everything would close for two hours and kids would come back from school as the whole family gathered around. You would never really see all these people in one place apart from at the dining table. After lunch, the nonnas would begin it all again – rolling pasta, braising meats, making stews – all in time for dinner. My favourite thing to eat has always been tortellini in a chicken stock with lots of chilli and heaps of aged parmesan. I remember the parmesan just sitting on the table like another condiment – salty, sharp and with lots of umami.

Like so many others before me, my time in the kitchen began with menial jobs such as washing up and a bit of simple cooking. I didn’t know much about restaurants back then and social media wasn’t really around to direct me. I ended up just looking up restaurants online and searching for what was considered really good. So that’s how, at 17, I started at J Sheekey. It was so busy, chaotic even, and very old school from the waiters to the kitchen. Working there taught me a lot; mainly about the importance of routine and structure.

My first taste of a Michelin-starred kitchen was before I turned 24, at Matt Weedon’s Lords of the Manor, where I worked for two and half years. It was a really big hotel, and the kitchen was focused on classic French cooking. I lived in London at the time and would commute to the Cotswolds which would sometimes take me over an hour. I then worked at Pied à Terre, which was an intense but very educational experience, followed by Michel Wignall’s The Latymer and Phillip Howard’s The Square, which was a two star.

British seafood is very underrated considering it’s of such high quality. You get amazing catches from all over the island, from Scotland and their incredible scallops to Cornish day catch, which we use in the restaurant. We tend to export a lot of our seafood and often you’ll find yourself in places such as Spain and Portugal eating Scottish langoustines…

There are also certain fish that we just don’t consume enough of in the UK, for example grey mullet which is criminally underused.

Our menu is based around the catch of the day from Cornish day boats so it always changes depending on what we can get in. We also love working with seafood that is not used as much, such as smoked kippers. At Behind we try to revive forgotten ingredients through our own take on tradition. We also make a lot of reductions using natural seasonings and shellfish such as crab and lobster, as well as using elements such as foraged seaweed.

Covert, behind-the-scenes, and fun.

It’s a fantastic feeling to be recognised like that — but it also comes with high expectations and a lot of pressure. You are always expected to deliver at a very high standard and to be consistent. It’s important to keep your team happy, engaged and always learning.

I would advise them to not rush through their career and to work in the best restaurant possible with chefs they admire and want to learn from. Star or no star, it is important to surround yourself with the best and most inspiring people.

I love the Ritz and make it a tradition to go every year. It is such a bastion of tradition that forms the base of modern cookery. Their hospitality and showmanship are unparalleled, and this is something we also strive to achieve at Behind by interacting with our guests and welcoming them to observe our process as part of the dining experience.

I really admire Sameer Taneja from Benares. His use of spice and creativity with Indian cooking is unparalleled, plus he is an all-round fun guy.

I spend time with my young son, cooking, eating and teaching him about football – our team is Arsenal. He is very creative, so we often paint together.

I also love to travel and discover countries through eating. It’s great for inspiration and a fun way to learn about the place and the culture.

The menu is always changing, but at the moment we have a chawanmushi – a Japanese savoury custard – with crab, sake and tuna which I really love.