I am fortunate enough to be in the best profession in the world. Sure, the long hours and 50 C (120 F) degree kitchen heat in the middle of summer mean that I may have a severe electrolyte deficiency and a standing prescription for chaff cream every December - February.

And my inundation with people using the vernacular of the sailor means that I will never be able to work in primary schools, but I still reckon it really is the best stuff ever. That's what this book is about. It's about how my love for food, particularly BBQ and fried chicken, has taken over my life. How I gambled everything I had on starting a restaurant to run it how I wanted to run it.

Without owners second-guessing my menu and trying to run my ship (I should add also, without their stacks of cash, a definite downside!). It's about how if you believe in something and work your arse off then it will all work out. And if it doesn't, then I know how to make a good meal that I can cry into.