“I am drawn to chaos. I love excitement': Tom Kerridge on the risks of running restaurants and teaching his chefs how to fish

At 5:59 a.m. on a Monday in this July heatwave, Tom Kerridge waits in the parking lot of Hand and Flowers, his two-star pub in Marlow, in the heart of the original counties. He wears a black Who concert t-shirt, camouflage-patterned jogging bottoms and a white Mercedes-Benz cap, turned up on the front. On one forearm he has a tattoo of a drawing by his young son, Acey; on the other, the inked paw print of his beloved ex-mutt Georgie. He hands me a hot sausage bap and a flask of coffee as we climb into a minibus, which contains five semi-sleepy shapes, all chefs at different restaurants Tom Kerridge, plus his public relations manager, Laura, and the Observer photographer, Pål.

The plan is to head to Cornwall, which is about five hours away at this indecent hour. Kerridge, who has both a minibus license and unmistakable alpha male energy, will be driving. The two-day trip's itinerary reads like a '90s bachelor party: sea fishing, barbecue and beers on the beach, and a six-course feast with assorted drinks at a fancy restaurant. Sleep doesn't figure prominently on the schedule of events or, it becomes apparent, in Kerridge's life in general. Kerridge is going to be in the sea off Treyarnon Beach, dressed in a full kitchen uniform, with a large crowd wondering what this TV chef is up to. From time to time, he will spurt out water, a glistening mackerel in his mouth, like a proud seal. But we will come back to this in due course.

In short, a few convivial days are ahead, with sometimes a note of anxiety. It will not have escaped your notice that the hospitality industry is currently in a perilous situation: jumping from the frying pan of Covid directly into the heat of a cost of living crisis. Kerridge, 49, an established operator with a significant public profile, has advantages that many chefs and owners don't, but he hasn't been immune to the challenges of the past two years. Nobody has. In December last year, he wrote a desperate plea in the Guardian for additional government support for restaurants and bars after 650 people canceled reservations at his six venues in six days. He estimated that these cancellations amounted to around £65,000 in revenue. Over the whole of the pandemic, Kerridge believes his losses amounted to £4-5million. ="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-eiqqge">