Peter Stringfellow, nightclub owner
Chef Roger Leadbitter

'Roger has been working for me for 18 years. He's the chef at Stringfellows, my club, and so my chef too since I live next door. I wait until the evening to eat. Most nights I'll eat fish - I adore fresh fish and shellfish. But I'll often go off-menu. I'll have egg and chips. Or a fried-egg sandwich with white bread - none of that brown stuff.

But Stringfellows can be a difficult place for me to eat, what with the adrenaline and people coming up to me, and I rarely clear my plate. So if it's been a long day I'll have the food sent round to the flat. Roger often brings me something special that he's found in the fish market that day, or something he's shot during a trip to Scotland, like grouse. I'm not afraid of being adventurous. I once went to Iceland and brought back some reindeer. Roger cooked it for me and I was blown away - it was delicious.

Chefs have been a part of my life ever since I opened my first nightclub in Sheffield in 1969. I was a war baby, brought up on Spam sandwiches with best butter, and corned beef. My taste for good food developed when I moved to London in the Seventies although, of course, the restaurants were nowhere near as good as they are today.

I can actually cook for myself. I mostly cook in Mallorca - I have a villa and a boat there. And of course the easiest thing in the world is to pick up the phone and call Roger if I'm a bit stuck with something.

I rang him the other week about some local shellfish. I thought I should steam them like mussels, but Roger insisted I should then empty the pan as they carry their own seawater. If it hadn't been for him it would have been a disaster. It's very handy having your own chef on the end of the phone.

I am well aware of the privileged life I lead. I was brought up on fish and chips and one of my favourite dishes is still cod. Cod and chips used to be nine pence when I was a lad. Now we serve fish and chips at the club and it's £18. It's no longer humble but it's still one of my favourite dishes.'