With his solid Lancashire accent and down to earth manner, Nigel Haworth is not your usual stereotype of a temperamental chef.
Rather than discussing high-level cuisine and throwing tantrums, he will happily talk for ages about his love for Lancashire food and the wealth of produce the North West had to offer.
But this is a chef also highly respected amongst his peers as highlighted but his ability to entice names such as Heston Blumenthal, Claude Bosi of Hibiscus, and Mark Hix from the Ivy to his annual food festival in January at his restaurant in Northcote Manor, near Clitheroe, when normally you can never get southerners to come north.
Along with partner, Craig Bancroft, Haworth took a rundown restaurant and earned it the first Michelin star in Lancashire. It offers creative food and although it may now have the kind of clientele who often arrive by helicopter, Haworth has always stayed faithful to his Lancashire roots, sourcing as much local produce as possible - a difficult thing to do more than 20 years ago.
Nowadays he claims to have slowed down, but there is no sign of this as he continues to be as driven as ever championing quality regional food. For instance, Haworth put Lancashire hotpot back on the map by creating a sublime version made with succulent Bowland lamb.
Originally from a small village near Accrington, it was a sudden epiphany that led Haworth down the culinary route. He just woke up one morning, at 16, and decided he was going to be a chef.
After college, he worked his way through prestigious kitchens such as the Grosvenor in London, and The Royal Berkshire in Ascot, then he moved to Switzerland, where he worked with top chefs perfecting his skills.
ln the early 1980s, recently married, he decided to come back home to be near family, but disillusioned with the food scent in the North West, went into teaching at Accrington College.
Then fate stepped in and an aunt introduced him to Bancroft, who had just been taken on at Northcote Manor, to turn it around from a rundown drinking venue to a top class country hotel.
This was a real chance - a head chef's job and I instantly got on with Craig. Our relationship has probably been the most positive thing in my life from a cooking point of view, we had the some love of food and it was someone I could trust,' he said.
Between them they built up the reputation of Northcote and in 1989 became join owners. Then following a lot of hard work they ended a Michelin star in 1996.
Though interested in regional food, if was former food editor Bob Gledhill who put Haworth on the path to sourcing as much as he could locally.
'He told me to stick to my roots and serve regional food, something nobody else was doing 20 years ago,' explained Haworth.
He worked seven days a week for years, totally driven by his passion for good food, and jokes that it was no wonder his marriage did not survive. But it just wasn't enough, he and Bancroft wanted more people to fall in love with local food, so in 2004, the Three Fishes pub in Mitton was opened.
'Craig and I had always wanted to do a pub. There is a huge void in the mid market.
We have great restaurants but they are at the top and we wanted to appeal to families and a bigger market'.
Naturally the Three Fishes is no run of the mill pub. Alongside Haworth's now famous Lancashire hot pot there are dishes such as haddock and chips, Goosnargh duck, Bowland lamb and treacle baked Garstang pork ribs. Each dish has a clear indication of where the ingredients are from; turn over the menu and there is a map showing where the 33 producers, who contribute to the menu, are based.
But it is not simply a matter of using local producers and shouting in proudly on the menu; in the background Haworth had done a lot of work with local growers, farmers and producers to help them develop and perfect their products.
For instance, while looking for someone to grow Golden Beetroot to use with his hot pot, he contacted a local farmer, who started to grow this unusual vegetable for him.
Haworth then worked with a local supermarket to get the beetroot stocked to widen the farmer's market and created recipes that would encourage shoppers to try them.
His passion for produce is now leading him to expand his horizons and he is planning to open more pubs - in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Cumbria - over the next five years, which will all use products local to them. The next one in Lancashire is just weeks away from being signed and sealed.
And don't think Haworth has forgotten his first home of Northcote. He is now working towards getting a second Michelin star for the Manor and a major renovation is underway as well.
He may have claimed to have slowed down but there is not much sign of it in reality.
By Anne Benson