He doesn’t mince his words and there was a good chance he might make mincemeat out of me. Luckily the self-confessed “greedy sod” who’s always looking for his next angle in fact only had good things to say about almost everybody. Just as well I didn’t tell him I’m a vegetarian.

You’re known as being outspoken.

Well, I do try to entertain! But I was always a journalist and still am. Somewhere along the line I went from being the hard man of news to vaudeville man too.

You were a Young Journalist of the Year – did you hope then to have the career you have now?

I do the eating for free; I get paid to write about it. I am still a reporter but there is another side to me. There are a lot of people who can eat, but not so many
who can write about it like I do. No one reads me to find out if the lamb was raw. It is a huge privilege to do what I do and I have got an amazing work life. But I have always got to have a story; I’m looking for the angle.

You reviewed a Kent restaurant in July and managed to get the words “shagging” and “horsewhip” in there. Is that normal for you? (He used to be a sex columnist for Cosmopolitan)

Yes I went to the Saltwood on the Green restaurant near Hythe. I knew it was a nice little place and the chef there was doing great things. Then I clocked it was where Alan Clarke used to live (the late Alan Clark MP, buried at Saltwood Castle, who published his salacious diaries). I couldn’t resist. That’s what I mean about the angle – it was perfect.

You like pig (eating it, that is.) What’s your view of vegetarians?

I have absolutely no problem with meat-free food but I believe it should be good because it’s meat free. Look, I just don’t understand the veggie sausage. What’s the point of that? It’s the vegans who have the robust position. Vegetarians don’t have a moral leg to stand on; they are still complicit in the killing of animals because they eat dairy. I do love pig myself. It is one of the best meats because it is more neutral. It lends itself to more uses, thanks to the quality of the fat.

Do you ever think “maybe I’d better not say that”?

I always have to say what I think. But I have a very good editor at the Observer who has impeccable taste; he knows exactly where to draw the line, and he will haul me back if needs be. But it’s probably better to push the line if you can.

You can be quite scathing in your criticism – how do you feel if you get it back?

When I write a book I know I can’t get away scot-free. Sometimes I think ‘you needn’t have said that’. But I review and I expect to be reviewed. I interview and then I’m interviewed. Just like now – I have my notebook out just like you.

DETAILS

My Dining Hell will be at the Central Theatre in Chatham on Sunday, May 15. For tickets click here.