Olivier Limousin

Head chef at the two-Michelin-starred L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in London, Olivier Limousin dreams of motorcycle racing and loves to root out authentic cooking and local produce, as he tells Alicia Miller

I love to explore when I’m on holiday

and I always go out of my way to find authentic restaurants that are popular with locals. When I was in Cancun, I found a small, bare-basics restaurant – it was so good that I returned every day to eat burritos with guacamole made by a grandmother in the kitchen. It’s only by exploring like this that you get the true feel of a place.

Living in London

has really opened my eyes to new cuisines. The diversity of ethnic restaurants here is astounding, and most are of a much higher quality than you can find in almost any other city, including Paris, where I lived for many years. I often go to Polpo (http://polpo.co.uk) for its crunchy croquettes, and to Brindisa (http://brindisa.com) at Borough Market for plates of their lovely hams. When I want French food, you’ll often find me at Cafe Bohème (http://cafeboheme.co.uk) – it’s open late so after service we sometimes go for a croque monsieur and a beer.

The first thing my father does

when I arrive home in Vendée is buy oysters, which we enjoy at our first dinner together along with some fresh bread and butter. The flavour of Vendée butter is wonderfully unique, and we use something similar here at L’Atelier. We also regularly use the local white bean, mogette. Vendée is famous for its fish – especially sardines – and my mother prepares them so well when I go home; I’m really inspired by her cooking. In my home we are very in touch with the food we eat – carrots and leeks come from my parents’ garden, milk and eggs from a neighbour’s farm and pork from a friend – which is why I am so interested in food provenance at L’Atelier and I’m so careful with my sourcing.

Working for Joël Robuchon

has hugely influenced the way I see good food. He is most famous for his mashed potatoes – what else is there to say? With Joël everything is about doing the best you can with the finest ingredients; that’s why we use producers like Secretts Direct (http://secrettsdirect.co.uk), which is a small farm that produces lovely micro-herbs, salads and vegetables.

My greatest passion is riding motorcycles

and for a long time I wanted to be a high-security escort for diplomats – I would have loved a job where I could be on my bike all day. However I was too young to train for this, and that’s when I got into cooking instead. I still ride my motorcycle to work every day, where I’ve hung up a picture of world champion racer Valentino Rossi. I’d love to go to the Isle of Man to compete in the TT ; I imagine the countryside there would be a beautiful place to race.

If I could visit anywhere in the world

I would choose Japan. I’ve never been anywhere in Asia, but it is my dream to visit Tsukiji, the largest fish market in the world. I think the food philosophy in Japan is similar to what we try to achieve at L’Atelier – it’s about simple products, treated with precision.

Enjoying a meal isn’t just about the food,

it comes down to who you are sharing it with. I can’t say I have a favourite restaurant or type of cuisine. If I’m with a friend, that’s the most important thing. When you’ve having a good time, something as simple as a kebab can be fabulous.