LEE TIERNAN

Black Axe Mangal is tough to pigeonhole, with traditional Turkish mangal (barbecue) cooking mixed up with a heavy metal soundtrack. I’ve stolen all the things I like about the Turkish restaurants I’ve loved all my life, from Tas Firin to Mangal 2, and combined that with the skills I learned working for Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver at St John Bread & Wine for two years as head chef. This recipe has a similar mix of influences. On Christmas Day we have a traditional lunch, but afterwards we’ll have loads of leftover ham, beef and turkey, so a wrap is a great way of sweeping it all up on Boxing Day. It’s a crowd-pleaser, too, which is always good. We’ve got two kids, another on the way, and lots of other children in the family, so Christmas, which we host at our house in Wanstead, can be carnage. Usually I’m in charge of the kitchen, but this year I’ll be relinquishing control of the roast potatoes to my father-in-law Arthur. Mum’s are still the best, though! As for presents, I’m hoping for a new skateboard deck to mount on the restaurant’s walls, although my wife Kate, who I own the restaurant with, slapped a ban on skating since I fractured my elbow last November. It’s too risky for the business, she says. I’m planning to get my own back by swerving her family’s traditional screening of It’s a Wonderful Life. It really winds them up when I skip it.