24 Mar 2023
We ask a different figure from the local community to choose 10 questions to answer from a list of 50. This week: restaurateur Andrei Lussmann.
What items do you always carry with you?
Waiters’ friend (wine opener) have hundreds in my boot just in case and all over the house.
If you could have a conversation with someone who had died who would it be?
My father and grandfather, impossible to split.
Are things getting better or worse?
Better and worse all depends on the day. Hospitality is better now than when I began in the late eighties. Better hours, wonderful career opportunities and ever evolving challenges.
Were you well behaved at school?
Not in the early days, always in trouble, always on report and in detention including two Christmas dinners. Lots of solitary time breeds imagination and opportunity.
What’s your favourite meal?
Charcuterie, pasta, grilled fish and panettone every day of the week.
Which three people, living or dead, would be your ideal dinner party guests? Keith Floyd (chef), John Cleese and Clint Eastwood, not sure if they would have much in common though!
What was your first job? Underage petrol attendant followed by kitchen porter in an established and old hotel kitchen with a very large brigade. No place to hide and no time to sleep, early morning finishes followed by early morning starts.
What is your most-missed St Albans shop, pub, café or restaurant?
Kohinoor, fave Indian restaurant on George Street next to Dylan’s. Loved Nasa the boss, often a late-night pint and curry after work in the early days of Lussmanns in St Albans.
Where in St Albans would be your preferred choice for a sandwich?
Hatch on the Hill – love what Chris as achieved here. Clever, quirky and delicious.
What was your best subject at school? Geography
