I'VE been at Castle Leslie for nearly seven years now and I love it here. What sets it apart is that it's powered by the heart, not by a business machine. Sammy Leslie, the owner, is an amazing woman . . . I'd do anything for her. Sundays are sometimes a working day and sometimes not . . . I'm happy either way. I'll work if the business needs me to and if it doesn't I'll take the opportunity to walk my dog, Cougar, a white retriever, and visit my parents and my brothers over the border in Toomebridge, Co Antrim.

Sunday is also meaningful to me in a spiritual sense. I think that we're very lucky to have everything that we do and it's important to pause for a moment and count our blessings, so I try to get to mass every week.

We all need something to believe in . . . it's part of being human.

The rooms in Castle Leslie itself are closed for refurbishment at the moment [the restaurant is open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights until 22 April] and we'll reopen in the summer as a private members' club.

The new restaurant at the Hunting Lodge opens in May so I'm not short of things to keep me busy while the work is going on in the Castle. As well as overseeing a team of eight or nine chefs, I also run the cookery school. We often run courses at the weekends . . . Back to Basics, One Pot Cooking and Food Erotica for example . . . and if I'm working in the school I'll be there from about eight in the morning getting things ready for the students when they arrive. I've been to see dozens of cookery schools all over the world and I genuinely believe that ours is the best. Anton Mossiman was our visiting chef recently and he was very impressed. We have a Molteni cooker that cost over 200,000 . . . it's the Rolls Royce of cookers and proof that we're here for the long haul. Cookery classes here are nothing like home economics classes that people might remember from school. Coming up to Easter I've been trying out some very traditional recipes for hot cross buns and simnel cake. When we finish cooking we all sit down and eat together . . . it's an opportunity for the students to ask questions in a relaxed environment.

I travel quite a bit . . . I was cooking some fantastic dinners in Boston for St Patrick's Day . . . and I do a fair amount of television work and some journalism, so I'll often end up doing some preparation and writing on Sunday. I do the Afternoon Show a couple of times a month and I've just finished shooting The Great British Menu . . . I was up against Richard Corrigan. It goes out on 24 April. I've also just done a series for RTE called Trade Secrets. I love television work.

If I'm not working on Sunday evening then I like either to visit friends or to have people over and cook for them. I like simple wholesome food; I might roast a chicken and serve it with roast potatoes and carrots and parsnips. Good wine and good friends . . .

that's what it's all about.