7:00am

I arrive at the Dorchester and change into my whites.

7:10am

Quick catch-up on previous day’s sales report.

7:30am

Breakfast walk-round, checking Grill, Room Service, Promenade and breakfast delivery.  Also spot checking the food delivery and suppliers.

9:00am

Morning meeting with the entire hotel’s leadership and operational team to discuss the events that day in the hotel and to gather information on current and upcoming events, VIP arrivals, occupancy levels, complaints and the previous day’s sales statistics.

09:30am

Chefs’ meeting with all my Sous Chefs on duty back in my office in the kitchen. This will give my team and me more information on the functions we’re doing throughout the day and also highlight any challenges that we may have.

10:00am

I use this time to ensure all ordering inputted by my chefs is correct and I have added and checked off everything for the suppliers to make sure we have enough produce coming for the next 2 days’ functions. My phone buzzes constantly during this time with questions from my chefs and other departments. Once the ordering is complete, I then turn my attention to the forever-mounting bundle of e-mails and tackle them accordingly.

12:00pm

Now it’s time for me to commence my walk-round of the kitchens. The lunchtime period is where my team and I could serve up to one thousand one hundred people if we are full, and generally we are. I begin my walk through the main kitchen, chatting with the various teams from Room Service to Larder, Pastry, Grill to Promenade to Bar, tasting the different dishes, ensuring that the flavours are right and the set up of the food presentation before heading upstairs to Banqueting. Upstairs I check on the banqueting kitchens to ensure that the functions are running smoothly, chat with Banqueting Operations teams, the Headwaiter and my Banqueting Chefs.

1:00pm

Supervise a VIP Menu tasting in the Krug Room.

3:00pm

Lunch for me with my Executive Sous Chef and Senior Sous chefs to do a quick catch-up.

3:15pm

I spend the afternoon going through recipes, devising menus and processing any additional orders that might be needed. I also use this time to meet any suppliers or clients.

4:00pm

Go for a 5-mile run at Hyde Park.

5:30pm

Oversee kitchen-training sessions.

6:00pm

A final walk-round the kitchen to oversee the preparation for the evening functions.

7:00pm

I now begin my evening of cooking and entertaining for guests who have chosen my chef’s table, The Krug Room, for their event. Here I present my specially designed dishes paired with my choice of wines and champagne. In between, I do a quick nip around all the kitchens to oversee the evening service and various events we have going on.

10:00pm

Quick meeting with my senior team to discuss the day’s business and key points and the next day’s activities.

12:00am

I head to change out of my whites and off home for a few precious hours of sleep.