I was teaching myself how to cook through reading cooking books like Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck Book. I knew it was entirely out of my league, but it looked like so much fun - so I practised and created, cooking up a storm for friends and family. But it was not enough - I wanted to know more. So, I went to cooking school, and everything changed.
Through life and experience, I know that in every kitchen I worked in, every hour I stood, and every onion that made me cry was a force behind my inspiration - the adventures and magic moments that happen outside the kitchen. The moments where the imagination sparked and the ideas opened up like flood gates.
When walking next to the beach with the Zanzibar jungle on your left and the vast Indian ocean on your right, it is a little difficult not to be inspired.