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In the build up to The Staff Canteen Live 2015 at the Hospitality Show 2015, NEC Birmingham on January 19 – 21, we are taking a closer look at the chefs who will be joining us on stage. We dig a little deeper to find out what they are hiding under those chef whites!

Paul Foster is head chef of The Dining Room at Mallory Court in Warwickshire. The 32-year-old from Coventry pursued the traditional route to service after deciding he would become a chef at the age of 10. He moved to Mallory Court in 2014, building on the hotel's reputation for fine food.

At The Staff Canteen we want to see what makes chefs tick. We asked Paul a few questions about what he gets up to when he’s not in the kitchen:

What made you want to be a part of The Staff Canteen Live?

Well I’ve always looked up to The Staff Canteen, Mark’s (Managing Director The Staff Canteen) a cool guy and he asked me to do it. Obviously, he’s always involved with the best chefs in the country and when he let me know who else was doing it I definitely wanted to be involved.

It must be nice to work alongside your peer-group then?

It is. Most of the guys there have got a Michelin star or two so it’s a privilege to be involved in the same sort of things as they are. It’s always good to get together and see what we are all doing. It’s quite a close-knit community now, gone are those days of hiding recipes, there’s a lot of sharing nowadays.

How would you describe your food style?

I want it to be as natural as possible with purity of flavour; not getting too carried away with techniques but keep it interesting and clever and unique, really working with the seasons. I won't be going crazy trying to make warm jellies and that sort of thing and foams. I just want to keep a real purity of flavour.

What do you do in your spare time?

I like to play squash but obviously don’t have a huge amount of time to do it. I’ve got a young-daughter now so I’m spending as much time with her as possible. I generally take Sundays and Mondays off and my wife’s off those days as well. My daughter’s not in school yet so we get a good, solid weekend together. I love sport and often find myself watching football or rugby. I try to keep as active as I can and probably go out drinking a bit too much.

I bet you never get the chance to sit down then?

I don’t! I never get any ‘me time’ which is good I suppose. I’m constantly on-the-go doing something. I never really chill or relax unless I go to the cinema or something.

What’s one thing you could tell us that nobody else will know?

I climbed Mount Kilamanjaro last year.

What was the last album you bought?

Pure deep house, the compilation album. I’m really into house music.

>>> Read more in the Behind the Chef series here

Chocolate or cheese?

Chocolate, I hate cheese and I love chocolate so that’s an easy one.

Marco or Gordon?

Marco.

What’s your worst injury or cut in the kitchen?

I’ve opened my hand up on a couple of occasions. I’ve stabbed nearly all the way through my hand before and had to have it all glued together at the hospital.

If you weren’t a chef what would you be?

I get asked this quite often and the answer is, I really don’t know. I’m no good at anything else! Cooking’s the only thing I can do. I’d love to make people laugh and be a comedian but whether or not I could do it is a different question.

Paul will be joining us for The Staff Canteen Live on Tuesday, January 20, at 11:30. We are extremely excited to welcome one of the UK’s finest young chefs to our live event in Birmingham.

By Tom Evans

The Hospitality Show takes place at the NEC Birmingham from January, 19-21, 2015. Registration for the show is open now at: http://www.hospitalityshow.co.uk/sc/

>>> Read more from The Staff Canteen Live 2015 at The Hospitality Show here