He's one of Liverpool's most accomplished culinary artists, with a restaurant ranked among the upper echelons of British high cuisine - but chef Paul Askew still loves a good Sunday roast and cheesy beans on toast.
The 57-year-old chef has been the patron of The Art School in the city's Georgian Quarter for almost a decade - but his first forays into the world of cookery began when he was just 15, when he started working as a porter at the Thornton Hall Hotel on the Wirral after being inspired by the cuisines of Dubai and Singapore.
He said: "My dad was in the merchant navy, so we spent a lot of time in Dubai and Singapore, which had a very interesting food culture. Singapore was what got me really hooked, going to the fresh fish and produce markets. The culture is very much about dining and celebrating with friends.
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"I started off at the bottom of the ladder. In French it's called chef de plonge. You do all the dishes, pots and pans, clean the kitchen, but I also learned vegetable prep, gutting fish. They started to use me not just as a porter, but as a chef, and that's the introduction most people have. It teaches you the work ethic, but also the skills you need to gradually move up the ladder."
Paul, who lives in Bromborough, worked at the Pollards Inn in Willaston and the Britannia Ashley Hotel in Altrincham before jetting off to upstate New York, USA, to become a sous chef at Herberts, a restaurant and catering company.
He said: "One minute I'd be in a downtown restaurant, the next I'd be in someone's back garden, and the next I'd be doing a barbecue for 2,000 people, and it was a joy to see all these different events and learn even further."
He returned to Britain when he was 26 and took up his first head chef role at Wincham Hall in Northwich. In 1995 he returned to his Merseyside roots, becoming executive chef at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society.
In 2002 he became co-director and chef at The London Carriageworks. 13 years later, he sold his shares and embarked on his most ambitious venture so far - the creation and cultivation of The Art School.
He said: "It has always been about shining a light on local produce, and proving Liverpool can do capital city standards. Anything London, New York, Paris can do, we can do too. I wanted to introduce a level of gastronomy Liverpool hasn't seen before. My Holy Grail is to bring the first Michelin Star to Liverpool.
"All chefs develop their own repertoire over their careers. I'm classically French-trained, but as you travel you start to develop your own style. I think mine would be described as modern European, or modern British, but there's definitely a French influence, along with Singapore and Dubai. There's a little bit of me in each of my dishes, so it's quite unique in many ways.
"But if I had to pick one thing I really enjoy, it would be wild food, game, fish and shellfish. When you're working with the first meat of a new season, venison or pheasant, there's something special about that time of year."
He said his "signature dish" of choice was Hebridean hogget, a rare breed of sheep from Scotland, which earned him a perfect 10 when he competed on the Great British Menu in 2017.
But away from the hustle and bustle of a fine dining kitchen, the seasoned chef enjoys simple home-made comfort food - though he steers clear of McDonald's and fast food restaurants.
He said: "I must admit I like doing a nice roast dinner at home, having time to sit down with my family and eat with them. Even things like good pasta dishes, and good curry as well. It's comfort food at home - I'm not there to do fois gras with caviar. Sometimes cheese beans on toast with Worchester sauce is good."
With 41 years of experience under his belt, Paul has been nominated for the Culinary Hero Award by the Craft Guild of Chefs. The accolade rewards chefs who have demonstrated "true passion for food" and have achieved excellence in their field.
Paul said: "I'm very humbled and honoured to be on the shortlist, because there's some serious contenders. Just to be in the same category is a great feeling."
He added: "(The Art School) is very much about showing the rest of the country Liverpool's food culture, our pursuit of quality to a capital city standard. That's what my career has been about - not just for The Art School, but for Liverpool as a whole."
Public voting is now open for the Craft Guild of Chefs' Culinary Hero Award is now open. Cast your vote HERE.
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