Chef Luke Mangan on working with Richard Branson and the Roux brothers

What are your earliest memories of food? “I’m from a middle-class family, a large family of seven boys, and my mum was a good cook, making comfort food: trifles, stews and soups. School didn’t agree with me and I had to fall into some­thing. Cooking with mum was a good way to get into it.”

Why didn’t school agree with you? “I couldn’t sit still, I was disruptive. But it was the best thing that happened to me; I don’t think I’d be here now if I hadn’t been kicked out of school. I did a four-year apprentice­ship at a restaurant in Melbourne called Two Faces. Then I went to Europe and worked with the Roux brothers at Waterside Inn, a three-star Michelin restaurant.”

Why did you want to work for Michel Roux?“I was 20 in 1990, when I finished my apprentice­ship, and Roux had been in Australia with the brothers’ latest book, The Roux Brothers on Patisserie. I loved the book so much – I loved desserts and I wanted to be a pastry chef so I could eat them. So I wrote to him and he replied saying there was a two-year wait list. I was very cocky in those days and I rang the restaurant, got through to the kitchen and Mr Roux picked up the phone. He said sorry there’s a two-year wait list. I quickly said what if I come over and work for you for no pay, and if I’m any good you give me a job. He said come anytime you want. I went over about a week later and, after a month, he offered me a job. I stayed for almost three years. I am very lucky to keep in touch. He cooked for my 40th birthday in his little house in the south of France.”

How did you meet Richard Branson? “I opened Salt in Sydney [in 1999] and in 2002 some English guys were eating in the restaurant and they wanted to see me. They had a fantastic meal and said their boss was coming next month and could they get my contact details. They said their boss was Richard Branson and I said, ‘Yeah, right!’ About a month later he rang and said, ‘Luke, it’s Richard Branson,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, sure’, thinking it was one of my staff playing a trick but it really was him and he wanted a table for lunch. He enjoyed that and at about 8pm he calls and wants to come for dinner that night. I cooked for him and then he asked me out for drinks after. He asked me if I’d go to his island in the Caribbean and cook for a few weeks and would I consider doing his food for Virgin Atlantic. So I went to Necker Island and took four staff. In the end, I hardly cooked – he wanted me to enjoy the island and we talked food and business.”