FIRST IMPRESSIONS: DAVID MYERS
What are you working on at the moment?
We’re [Dave and Simon King] busy exploring the world of chicken. Takes a lot of pluck!
When were you at your happiest?
The first time we were invited to demo at the BBC Good Food Show at the NEC in the summer of 2006. It was the first time we’d done a demo of that scale and we loved every minute of it.
What is your greatest fear?
Illness.
What is your earliest memory?
Getting a silver bike for Christmas when I was four.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
That I don’t look like George Clooney.
Who has been your greatest influence?
Keith Floyd: he made cooking really cool. I remember the days when I was a student and we all wanted to be him.
What is your most treasured possession?
My dog, Doogle.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Winging it.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My receding hairline.
What is your favourite book?
Jupiter’s Travels by Ted Simon. I read it when I was 17 – Ted’s from my home town. The book’s about a man who travelled the world on a motorbike. It was so inspiring and now I’ve done it.
What is your favourite film?
Breakfast At Tiffany’s – when Moon River comes on it makes me weep.
Dave’s raves: Ted Simon’s Jupiter’s Travels, Audrey Hepburn singing Moon River, the Scorpions’ power ballad Wind Of Change and sushi
And your favourite piece of music?
Scorpions, Wind Of Change.
What is your favourite meal?
Sushi – I can’t get enough of it.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Penélope Cruz, Keith Floyd and Napoleon. I’d cook scallops to start, and then the main would be a delicious, slow-cooked roast rib of beef.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
This is true: on a programme I had a Ducati sports bike and I thought I looked great but I was told by a journalist that I looked like a ‘pot-bellied pig trying to mount an antelope’ – and there I was thinking I looked amazing in my leathers. Shortly afterwards we started on the diet book.
Do you believe in aliens?
Oh yes, many’s the time after a night out with Si I have sat there and seen little green aliens.
What is your secret vice?
Pizza and drinking.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Yes I do! Handwritten notes mean far more than a text or email.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
‘The fact of the matter is…’
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
I wouldn’t change a thing. Si and I have worked hard to get where we are and now we feel happy and settled.
Tell us one thing people might not know about you.
Not many people know that I have a postgraduate diploma in art history. Or that one time I owned an antiques shop in Aberdeen. I’m also very good at cutting hair.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
‘Can somebody get us out of here? It’s dark!’
Next week: a Q&A session with Simon King.
Si and Dave will be cooking live at the BBC Good Food Show Summer, NEC Birmingham, 16 to 19 June. To book tickets: 0844-581 1341, www.bbcgoodfoodshowsummer.com
We’re [Dave and Simon King] busy exploring the world of chicken. Takes a lot of pluck!
When were you at your happiest?
The first time we were invited to demo at the BBC Good Food Show at the NEC in the summer of 2006. It was the first time we’d done a demo of that scale and we loved every minute of it.
What is your greatest fear?
Illness.
What is your earliest memory?
Getting a silver bike for Christmas when I was four.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
That I don’t look like George Clooney.
Who has been your greatest influence?
Keith Floyd: he made cooking really cool. I remember the days when I was a student and we all wanted to be him.
What is your most treasured possession?
My dog, Doogle.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Winging it.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My receding hairline.
What is your favourite book?
Jupiter’s Travels by Ted Simon. I read it when I was 17 – Ted’s from my home town. The book’s about a man who travelled the world on a motorbike. It was so inspiring and now I’ve done it.
What is your favourite film?
Breakfast At Tiffany’s – when Moon River comes on it makes me weep.
Dave’s raves: Ted Simon’s Jupiter’s Travels, Audrey Hepburn singing Moon River, the Scorpions’ power ballad Wind Of Change and sushiAnd your favourite piece of music?
Scorpions, Wind Of Change.
What is your favourite meal?
Sushi – I can’t get enough of it.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Penélope Cruz, Keith Floyd and Napoleon. I’d cook scallops to start, and then the main would be a delicious, slow-cooked roast rib of beef.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
This is true: on a programme I had a Ducati sports bike and I thought I looked great but I was told by a journalist that I looked like a ‘pot-bellied pig trying to mount an antelope’ – and there I was thinking I looked amazing in my leathers. Shortly afterwards we started on the diet book.
Do you believe in aliens?
Oh yes, many’s the time after a night out with Si I have sat there and seen little green aliens.
What is your secret vice?
Pizza and drinking.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Yes I do! Handwritten notes mean far more than a text or email.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
‘The fact of the matter is…’
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
I wouldn’t change a thing. Si and I have worked hard to get where we are and now we feel happy and settled.
Tell us one thing people might not know about you.
Not many people know that I have a postgraduate diploma in art history. Or that one time I owned an antiques shop in Aberdeen. I’m also very good at cutting hair.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
‘Can somebody get us out of here? It’s dark!’
Next week: a Q&A session with Simon King.
Si and Dave will be cooking live at the BBC Good Food Show Summer, NEC Birmingham, 16 to 19 June. To book tickets: 0844-581 1341, www.bbcgoodfoodshowsummer.com