Tell us about the food of your childhood
I'm originally from Manchester and the family food was stuff like hotpots and stews. Food was important in that it meant that we all sat down and ate together.

What took you into the food industry?
I was into home economics as a kid and when I was about 12 I saw a poster at school which was advertising a week at a catering college in France. I really wanted to go and phoned my uncle who was head chef at a restaurant on Bristol's Park Street and asked him to give me a job during the summer holidays to earn the money to go. I went and then used to go and work with my uncle every summer. In addition to that I had two bakery jobs when I was at school and then I went to the local college and did two years full time. A week after finishing I went to The Masons Arms in Branscombe in Devon as a commis chef. I worked around for a bit and then got the job as head chef at Las Iguanas.

Do you have to do much travel in your role at Las Iguanas?
It has a South American theme as opposed to Mexican, which makes it quite unusual, and in the past 18 years I've done a fair bit of travel as research. I went to Brazil this year and made contact with couple of chefs out there. One chef called Edinho who really impressed me has a restaurant right on the sea in Salvador, Brazil and is mixing traditional Brazilian dishes with contemporary style and presentation. It's fantastic, and I met up with him with a couple of months ago again when he came over here. It's important to do the research because although we have lots of Las Iguanas now, we want to keep the quality up. That's why we employ chefs and cook fresh food cooked to order.

What sort of Brazilian culinary ideas did you find that you'll be bringing over here?
There's so much good stuff there, and lots of it is typical peasant food. One of the things that Edinho was doing was taking the classic sun-dried beef with manioc mash and adding banana. There is a possibility we could be doing that soon, although it's not easy. There was also a dish called married shrimp, with two shrimp, facing opposite ways to each other, split down the middle and stuffed with farofa - which is dried cassava - and then dipped in tapioca batter and deep fried. Very coastal Brazilian and a bit weird!

Where do you rate locally?
I like to go to The Olive Shed in Bristol now and then, and also a great tucked-away pub called the Wheelrights Arms near Bath which is in a lovely setting.

What would you have for your last meal on earth?
A nice pint of cold cider, and I'm into fresh fruit, plus some local cheeses; nothing too heavy.

What's on your list of places you'd like to eat at?
I fancy El Buli, and The French Laundry, and other than that I'd like to go to a pie and mash shop; I've never been but like the idea.

What does the future hold?
Our immediate plans are to expand into Reading or maybe Swindon. We're in the middle of opening in Soho, Liverpool and Manchester.

What should people be eating and drinking at las Iguanas this autumn?
Our Brazilian dish xinxim, which is made from shrimp, peanut and lime and is a staple on our menu, and a new dish called ensopado which is a winter beef casserole which is also made with beef chorizo. As for drinks it has to be the cocktails - we have our own sugar cane plantation just outside Rio so we make our own cachaça. Then of course there are the caipirinhas - from the classics to the spiced ginger or watermelon types. We also have some wines from Brazil, Uruguay and Mexico, and they are a lot better than you might imagine.


You'll find Las Iguanas at:
Bath
12 Seven Dials, Sawclose, BA1 1EN.
Tel. 01225 336666.
Bristol
113 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, BS8 2PB.
Tel. 0117 9730730.
Unit A, South Building, Anchor Square,
BS1 5UH. Tel. 0117 9276233.

http://www.iguanas.co.uk