Legendary chef Tom Kerridge talks to Katherine MacAlister about his dark side, his ferocious work ethic and how he fell in love with professional kitchens

Tom Kerridge, man of the people, TV presenter, Michelin starred maestro, and chef extraordinaire, is up early and ready to man his 100 strong team.

With two restaurants, a TV career, numerous charities and festival appearances, customers to please and a business to run, one might expect the larger-than-life chef to be rather harassed.

But as usual, it’s all water off a duck’s back for this 43 year-old thanks to his own ferocious work ethic, impeccable standards, and utter trust in his team.

“I don’t worry about paying their wages, just what I’ll pay them with,” he laughs with a Father Christmas style ho-ho-ho.

“So it is a big responsibility, even if we are doing well, but it doesn’t keep me awake at night.”

I doubt much would, because however many TV shows he stars in, cookbooks he publishes or bums on seats he secures, Tom Kerridge’s huge feet are firmly on the ground and show no sign of getting carried away with the media storm which surrounds him whenever he leaves the kitchen at the two Michelin starred Hand and Flowers in Marlow and more recent The Coach, up the road.

But back in 2005, when he first opened the foors of his first restaurant what was the plan?

“To have a go. It wasn’t about making money but about making a decision. Not doing so would have been our biggest regret. And for the first 8-10 years we didn’t make any money because we were just reinvesting in the business. In fact there are people working for me now who earn more than I do,” he chuckles. “But I wanted to see if we were capable of pulling it off. It was a project, like any other.”

And food wise? “We wanted to cook great food and create an environment where I’d want to spend my time off with my wife, not a hushed hub to gastronomy. It wasn’t about a fine dining arena, and that’s still the same now.

“It doesn’t need to be a special occasion place to achieve that though. You don’t need to get dressed up. It’s not about being fancy.”

It worked, and now there’s a six month waiting list for a table with foodies queuing around the block for the privilege, thanks to the numerous accolades (it gained a Michelin star in 2006 and a second in 2012).

But let’s go way back, back to when Tom’s parents split up when he was 11 and they moved to Gloucestershire. He started cooking at home when his mum went out to work,

“That’s not when I fell in love with food though. That wasn’t until much later.”

He later enrolled at catering college and then landed a job at Calcot Manor before joining Rhodes in the Square as sous chef under Gary Rhodes in 1999.

“I fell in love with the kitchen, the atmosphere the buzz, the pressure, the late nights, the anti-social hours, all going out after a shift, the dark side, leftfield.

“I didn’t fall in love with food itself until I was in my 20s. Until then it was about the job and the people.

“Because being a chef is not just about the food. Lots of people love food. It’s about wanting to be in that space, the environment.

“And I think that stood me in good stead because we all like cooking nice food at home, but this was about learning a trade, going to bed late, working hard,

“But it’s also about being true to yourself and having a passion for food that you take on further.”

“It’s the same with TV. I think one of the reasons I made it is because I understood that it was about more than cooking it was about making Tv and that is a ** just like mine and I respected that

Kerridge appeared on the Great British Menu, subsequently appeared as a judge every year since, then on Saturday Kitchen, Food and Drink and in 2013 presented his Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food on BBC2, Spring Kitchen with Tom Kerridge on BBC One,Bake Off: Creme de la Creme and now co-presents The Food Detectives.

And yet there are lots of Michelin starred chefs out there. So what is it about Tom that the country has fallen in love with? “I think it’s because I’m a normal bloke from Gloucester. I went to an all blokes comprehensive and am still friends with a lot of my schoolmates.

“I’m just like a normal person who learned a good trade, like a good builder or carpenter and I don’t pretend to be anyone else. And that’s how I see it, so I think they relate to me because we have the same ethos. I like driving a white van too. People feel they can relate to me.

“I like to think I’ve always been very accessible though, one of the gang. I’m not stuck up in my ivory tower of gastronomy.”

And yet the blinding world of media and TV must still have been a bombshell for someone who had scarcely left the kitchen for the past 20 years.

“I quickly realised TV was all about someone else’s agenda after Great British Menu took off. It was as much about the people making the TV show, than us. So I take making TV as seriously as I do cheffing and I’m alright at it because you learn what works and what to say, what not to say, to miss out the long cheffy bits no one wants to hear so that you don’t patronise anyone, and as a result I really enjoy making it.

“Although you do learn not to be so reactionary because chefs tend to react rather than thinking things through, so you have to be more conscious about what you say and how you behave.”

“But really, I’m just a small part. And half an hour later it’s all over, just like one of my dishes.

“It’s a group effort, just like my restaurants, and I’m just a small cog in the wheel and that’s the most important thing.”

Next weekend at The Big Feastival Tom may realise just how popular he really is as fans clamour to see him in the flesh. Does that unnerve him? “No, I like people and the ones I meet are all really nice.

But I’m very comfortable in my own skin anyway, and I’ve always been happy to stop for a chat.”

So will he be camping?

“This will be my first time at The Big Feastival and I can’t wait I’m helping out at Car fest with Chris Evans (who is a personal friend) then going to a friend’s wedding on Saturday and then The Big Festival on Sunday, so whether we’ll find the time to camp or not remains to be seen.”

Maybe he will be joining Feastival founders Jamie Oliver (drums) and Alex James (guitar) on stage for a bit of a hoe-down? “No I don’t play an instrument,” he chuckles, “but I’ll do a cooking demo or two and showcase some skills that people can take home and replicate, so they can cook to an improved standard.”

As for the future, Tom has enough on his plate and is keeping a firm eye on any Brexit developments which he says will have a massive impact on the catering industry and the “movement of people through Europe”.

Tom also has to take his wife Ruth’s busy schedule into account. Having put her sculpting career on hold while they got the Hand & Flowers up and running, she has now has returned to the public domain and is in huge demand. Currently installing a 5m marble sculpture in the new Dubai Opera House, Mrs Kerridge also had two major shows in London last year as well as commissions in Italy and Singapore to fulfil.

“She is doing incredibly well and I’m so proud of her. It’s been quite an incredible few years really,” he adds with a smile and a shrug as he returns with relief to the kitchen, to get back to doing what he does best – cooking from his bear of a heart.

The Big Feastival runs over the Bank Holiday weekend, from next Friday to Sunday.

For more on the Big Feastival go to thebigfeastival.com