Saturday Kitchen chef James Martin talks to TV Times magazine about his 40th birthday plans... How will you be celebrating your birthday on the show? “They won’t tell me anything! I know we’re not having a celebrity guest and I have a hunch some pretty special chefs are coming on to cook as a few have rung me and dropped hints!” Did you give the producers a wish list? “They asked where I’d go if I could eat out anywhere and I gave them a list of big hitters I admire. I think Alain Roux is coming on, and I’m pretty sure Nathan Outlaw is, and I reckon Marcus Wareing may be making a rare TV appearance.” That would be amazing! “It would be one of the first times on British TV you’d have that many Michelin-starred chefs cooking on one show. Alain has three stars and Nathan and Marcus both have two, so I’ll be quite happy to sit back and watch if it is those guys!” Is there anything in particular you’d love to be served on the big day? “It would be my white chocolate croissant butter pudding. It’s about 4,000 calories a portion, but I won’t worry about that on my birthday!” How else will you be celebrating? “It’s the Goodwood Festival of Speed which is my idea of heaven. On Friday I’m rallying my car around a circuit with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, being a typical boy, pitching up a tent in the middle of a field, loving every minute of it. Then I’ll do Saturday Kitchen and by 2pm I’ll be pulling on my fireproof overalls and helmet and be back on the track racing my own Mini rally car!” Have you bought yourself a birthday present? “I can’t quite believe it ,but I’ve bought a Rolls Royce Phantom, like Alan Sugar’s. I don’t know whether I should sit in the front or the back – it’ll have to be the boot! I test-drove one and it was the first car I didn’t want to give back. It’s the ultimate car, British engineering at its best!”
