Sven Elverfeld, chef de cuisine of Aqua at The Ritz-Carlton Wolfsburg in Germany, has held on to his three Michelin stars for four years and says the pressure keeps him motivated.
"If you feel nothing, it's not good. Sometimes you need the pressure or else you get lazy," he said.
Elverfeld was in town at the weekend for a two-night stint at The Ritz-Carlton's Tosca restaurant, and greeted guests after finishing in the kitchen.
"I try to go out every night to meet guests because they often ask me about my cooking, why I choose certain combinations, and sometimes the advice is constructive," he said.
For Tosca's diners, Elverfeld cooked up some of his signature dishes, such as potato pot-au-feu with spinach, egg yolk and truffle, roasted lamb with couscous and Breton sole in a modern Finkenwerder style.
The chef said he was always trying to dream up new dishes.