I really love to eat in the world’s best restaurants
(. . . that’s when I’m not cooking in mine)
Q What did your parents teach you about money?
A SPEND it wisely. I come from a well-off family but my parents worked hard for their money and I was taught to do the same.
I grew up in a country house in the middle of a forest. My dad owned a car dealership and my mother ran a small bed and breakfast. We were never short of money and they sent me to private school, but I was not given handouts. I was always told to do chores if I wanted money.
Q What was the first paid work you ever did?
A WORKING for the Forestry Commission which looked after the forest we lived in. I was 15 and would stand at the gate and collect entrance money from visitors. I earnt £4 an hour during the school holidays and at the weekends.
Q Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?
A NO because I have always had a job and lived within my means. From age 21, I trained for four years to be a professional golfer. I worked for a golf club as an assistant professional and had to make do on a low wage. Eventually I realised I was not good enough to play professionally and gave up.
I used all my savings to go on a holiday camping around Europe. I had a little notebook and started taking notes of everything I was eating in France.
When I came back, I realised the only thing I was really interested in was food. So I moved back home with my parents and got a job washing dishes in a restaurant. As soon as I started working with food, I knew I was in my element. That is when I decided to become a chef.
Q Have you ever been paid silly money for a job?
A YES. I was recently paid £8,000 to spend a day being filmed using a well-known brand of kitchen equipment for their website.
I have been offered even more money to do private dinner parties and take part in corporate events but I am so busy with my restaurant I do not have time to accept.
Q What was the best year of your life in terms of the money you made?
A IT was 2015 when I did consulting for another restaurant. Getting two Michelin stars last year was a massive financial boost for my restaurant. But every penny of profit I make is put back into the business, so my personal financial situation has not changed.
The wages I take from the Raby Hunt are insignificant – not much more than the minimum wage. It is not about money as my goal is to get better as a chef.
Q What is the most expensive thing you have ever bought yourself just for fun?
A IT was a case of six bottles of Chablis Raveneau 2014. Each bottle cost £180. I tried it at the Ledbury restaurant in London – it was crisp and 2014 was a good year. I am trying to build a little wine collection for myself.
Q What is the biggest money mistake you ever made?
A WASTING half my 20s training to be a golf pro. But it has only served to make me more determined. It gave me an inner drive to make sure that whatever I did next I would not fail at.
Q What is your best money decision?
A PURCHASING the Raby Hunt with my parents. We bought it in 2009 when property prices were cheap. Last year, we spent £400,000 on renovating it to give the restaurant the wow factor and two Michelin stars. Now, the place looks like what it is: one of the 20 best restaurants in the country. It has proved a good investment.
Q Do you save into a pension or invest in the stock market?
A NO, I do not. The focus right now is on building my business, not my retirement. Besides, chefs do not l i ve t hat l o ng because of all the stress we endure. I will worry about my retirement later.
Q Do you own any property?
A JUST the Raby Hunt. I would like to own my own home one day. But at t he moment I rent a threebed house ten miles from the restaurant.
Q How much cash do you typically carry?
A I NEVER carry cash. I always use a debit card. These days you just do not need cash. Having said that, I recently went to a winter fair and tried to use my card to buy something at a stall. It felt like going back in time to hear they would only accept cash.
Q What is the one little luxury you like to treat yourself to?
A TRAVELLING and eating out at the best restaurants in the world – restaurants like Noma, Geranium, Vendome, Aqua, L’Ambroisie and Eleven Madison. Trust me, every time you eat at one of those, it is expensive. But I want to learn and get better as a chef.
So three times a year, I go on a road trip and spend £900 eating at three three-star restaurants every day for four days.
It sounds glamorous but it is not – and it leaves me with no money to do anything else.
Q If you were Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the first thing you would do?
A I WOULD lower corporation t ax f or s mall businesses. Anything that helps small firms survive is crucial as we move towards Brexit.
Q Do you think it is important to give to charity?
A YES I do. Every year I invite the best chefs in the country to come to the Raby Hunt and sell a dish to raise money for Hospitality Action.
This helps anyone in the hospitality industry who has fallen on hard times or suffers from depression.
I know how hard it is to work long hours in a professional kitchen. I do not even like to add up how many hours I do.
In the first couple of years, when it was just me, I would work seven days a week for nearly 16 hours a day. It definitely had an effect on my health and personal relationships.
Q What is your number one financial priority?
A MY daughter Harriett. She lives with my ex. I want to make sure she gets everything she wants and needs. I am more bothered about her t han I am about myself.