HE HAS rubbed shoulders with royalty, cooked for the stars and won almost every cheffing competition on the planet.

I met up with top Bay foodie Simon Hulstone to find out about the man behind the culinary prowess.

It was no real surprise to find out what makes him tick.

"My leisure time seems to revolve around food," he revealed.

"If we go for a walk I tend to find something like wild garlic and we'll go picking in the woods, or we will be trying to find wild flowers.

"We also eat out a lot, that is a major part of what we do."

It has been said that talent is a combination of something you love and something you can lose yourself in.

Simon, 34, speaks passionately about his work and has a real drive to make the best of his restaurant, the Michelin-starred Elephant on Torquay's harbourside.

The Michelin stars are an accolade which, despite Simon's cooking competition credentials, he never expected to achieve.

"I never expected a Michelin star," he said.

"It came out of the blue. When we got it, it was the acceptance we were looking for. I was taken from being a competition chef to being taken very seriously as a chef."

If talent and drive are a recipe for success Simon will be cooking up a storm for many years to come.

With three coveted industry 'Oscars' under his belt, the title of UK Chef of the Year and having won every cooking competition he wishes to win, I asked if there was anything left for him to achieve?

Simon's culinary successes regularly hit the headlines so before we talked about his foodie frolics I asked about his life away from the cooker.

Sitting on a comfy sofa upstairs in the elegantly-decorated restaurant, Simon was at ease chatting happily about his family life.

Simon lives with wife of four years Katy and daughters Tansy, three, and Cicely, two — both named after delicate herbs. The family live in the flat above the restaurant.

"It is good to know they are just upstairs when I'm working.

"We have a prefect spot here, some of the best views ever."

Although he admitted: "Sometimes you just want to leave it all behind. We can't even go out without walking through the restaurant."

Simon works six days a week and lives above his business. I couldn't help wondering what could take him away from the place where his work and family life seem to coexist in an easy harmony.

And then I was introduced to Mr Tickle! Not, as I thought, a bright orange cartoon character with extraordinarily long arms, but a Lambretta scooter, so named for Simon's daughters.

"The kids were scared of the noise the Lambrettas made," he explained.

"So I had it custom painted as Mr Tickle and now they love it."

Simon proudly showed off the blue and orange scooter baring the words 'Tickle Speed' and adorned with images of the character.

Simon, who is a member of scooter club the South Devon Showman, told me: "I have five Lambrettas. They always break down so you leave one for repairs."

Simon has a fiery passion for the Italian scooter and one thing I learnt, to my detriment, was never to refer to a Lambretta as a motorbike.

"It is a scooter," Simon corrected with a friendly grimace.

He enthused about a hobby where it is an achievement to get from A to B without breaking down.

Being the owner of a classic Mini myself, I understand the joy in completing a journey in a vehicle, based on a 50-year-old design, that hasn't missed a beat. But there is no denying that part of the fun is in the breaking down and being seen with your own piece of motoring history.

"The Lambretta is a style icon," he explained.

"It is a head-turner. I am not interested in big bikes, it's easier to have a car.

"More than anything it is about actually getting somewhere and not breaking down and having to get your hands dirty trying to fix it."

Simon admitted that while he has all the patience in the world in the kitchen, he is somewhat lacking in the mechanical sympathy department.

"If I break down and it is properly broken it normally gets hit with a hammer, then I get another one out of the garage and leave the broken one to rot for a bit."

Simon's scooter gives him the release and peace that seems to elude him in other aspects of his hectic life.

"I like the freedom, it is nice just to be on the Lambretta and not have to worry about talking to anyone. You can get your helmet on and go."

But there is also a social aspect to the pastime, with the iconic machine attracting lots of attention from passers-by.

"You park up on a Lambretta and everyone wants to have a look at it, it's quite strange.

"There is also the scooter club, a group of guys who are all into the same sort of music, the same sort of scene. It's good fun," he said.

The conversation returned to Simon's family life. For someone with such commitment to their work I am amazed he fits it all in.

Affectionately referring to his children as 'little monsters', he said: "It is all a credit to my wife really. She looks after the girls all the time, takes them to ballet and things.

"But they are great, two good little girls," he beamed.

No interview with the Bay's top chef would be complete without at least touching on his cooking and numerous competition wins.

Simon grew up around food. His father, Roger, is a chef and works at Torquay's Rainbow Hotel.

His love of cooking began at an early age when he took a job as a kitchen porter so he could spend more time with his father, whose unsociable working hours meant he was often out of the house when a young Simon was home from school.

It was Roger who arranged Simon's first job as an apprentice at a 'very posh' hotel in Croydon.

"It was a bit of a son exchange," Simon explained.

"The chef there was a very good friend of my father's, they had competed against each other. He had a son of the same age as me who was a chef as well. I was taken on by him and his son was taken on by my father."

Over the years Simon has had success after success and won junior chef of the year twice.

He looked almost embarrassed as he admitted: "There is nothing left for me to win."

Competition-wise Simon has reached the heights he always wanted to achieve.

"Apart from the Bocuse D'or," he admitted.

"But that is a French competition that will always be won by French people."

What is next for a man who already seems to have it all?

"It is about getting my brand out there and making the Elephant a success," he said.

"The restaurant is what makes my money. I aspire to be here every day that we are open."

Despite his culinary successes, Simon has shunned the celebrity chef lifestyle.

"I feel it is wrong that a lot of chefs are on TV more than they are in the kitchen.

"Most of my days off are spent doing my PR stuff, but if the restaurant is open I am pretty much 99 per cent of the time in the kitchen.

"I think it is unfair for me not to be here. People are coming to eat my food and if there is a problem it should be me who has cooked the meal and can resolve it.

"I am the head chef, I am the one with my name on the menu."

Simon did concede that it would be nice to get more PR out there. But his ethos of being there for his customers means it has to fit around his schedule or the restaurant is closed.

One step is being taken to raise Simon's profile.

Catch the first monthly Herald Express video recipe with Simon Hulstone on the website now.

Log on to www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk and Simon will take you through some simple step by step instructions for making a lemon posset.