What’s your favourite Easter food memory? We have a big family so when my grandmother was alive, all the family – aunts, uncles, cousins – used descend on her house for Christmas, Easter or just a regular Sunday. There would be at least 20 people in this small, pokey house in Bailieborough but what memories. Everybody did their bit. My mom would do the dessert while someone else would do the soup for starter or the potatoes. Easter Sunday was always juicy lamb and I can’t have Easter dinner without thinking of those days.

What’s your favourite Easter egg? I am all about tradition. It has to be Cadbury Dairy Milk. Again, it must be the nostalgia of childhood. When I was in college in Killybegs, we made our own Easter eggs, moulding and setting the chocolate and tempering it to give it that lovely shine.

Where’s your favourite foodie holiday? Anywhere in France. I’d say I have been there more than 20 times. I really love Nice; the Nicoise cuisine is unique. So many people know the Nicoise salad but I also love their socca pancakes, which are a thin, crusty pancake with a lovely soft interior, made from chickpeas. There is also this great walking tour that explains the whole history of the cuisine of the area and it stops into cheese shops, the boulangerie, even the chocolatier the Queen visited on her trip. And of course, the vineyards are amazing.

Who is your favourite supplier to work with? I am now an ambassador for Manor Farm. 100% Irish chicken, they work with lots of farmers across Cavan and Monaghan, supplying butchers and supermarkets nationwide. It’s very local to me and I also have family members working in the factory, which is a bonus. When I open my own restaurant, I have to be able to stand over the products and suppliers – that is really important to me.

Tell us about your dream dinner party guests. I would love to cook for someone who is really difficult to please: Gordan Ramsey or Marco Pierre White, for example. It would make me really challenge myself and then I would enjoy their conversation about the food I prepared. I also would like my girlfriend Fiona there. She is a dream dinner party guest – very easy to cook for. She would highlight the positives of the meal but she is also a really chatty person who is lots of fun.

If you have had garlic sitting there for a while, make sure to remove the green stem as it can be as acidic as a Granny Smith apple before going to bed.

What’s your favourite Irish restaurant? I love L’Ecrivian in Dublin. Derry Clarke has been an amazing mentor to me and a friend, and he and Sallyanne really have done something special with L’Ecrivian. It’s very classic French food, good ingredients cooked simply. It has a great atmosphere and as you can see into the kitchen; I love to see what’s going on. I also got a tour of the kitchen at Kilronan Castle in Roscommon and I really like what they are doing there.

Tell us about your proudest moment as a chef. I have had lots of great moments as a chef, especially working with Neven Maguire. However, last year when I won the Tatler Man of the Year – One to Watch, it was a real pinch-me moment. I couldn’t believe it when Bobby Kerr presented me with the prize. I started cooking and working as a chef when I was 14. It was 12 years of trying to get where I am now and it was a real achievement. They especially referenced the work I was doing promoting cooking in schools and it was great to see the hard work paying off. I never received any award in my own right before that so it was a real celebration.

You are famous for your fakeaways but what’s your favourite takeway? I love a good Indian, a tikka masala or a dahl. I also enjoy a good rogan josh. With Indian food, I just love all the different spice combinations. There are thousands of different spices, each with their own flavour, which instantly can change the texture and flavours of a dish; it’s intriguing to understand. If you mix the wrong combination you can get it so wrong, but when you get it right, it can bring a dish to a whole new level. It is an area I am trying to understand and experiment with more.

Share your secret foodie tip. If you have had garlic sitting there for a while, make sure to remove the green stem as it can be as acidic as a Granny Smith apple before going to bed. Also, put a teaspoon in your mouth while chopping an onion to stop crying. Never serve a sweet wine that is sweeter than your dessert as it will be too sickly. And, last one, always put a cloth under your chopping board to prevent it from slipping and cutting your hand. That’s it now, I have let you in on all my secrets. J