We asked Arimia Estate's head chef Evan Hayter (pictured), and Erasmus' Marcello Gallotti and Andrea Gallotti to answer the Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery Questionnaire. There are only two rules – you have to tell the truth, and do it with Love.

Evan Hayter, Arimia Estate:

What is your idea of perfect happiness? There’s lots of things that make me happy; perfect happiness would be a stretch too far though.

What is the purest thing you have ever tasted? A cattle farming friend of mine sold me a four-and-a-half-year-old, 100 per cent grass fed, Black Angus steer. The meat was incredible, I’d forgotten what a properly aged animal could taste like…it tasted like beef.

What do you love most about what you do? Learning, understanding, creating.

What do you consider the most overrated ingredient? Kale!

Is there anything you don’t particularly care to eat? Where does it come from? If I don’t like the answer, I won’t eat it.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? Jello Biafra maybe…

When was the last time you ate out, and where? Last week, somewhere that left me underwhelmed.

Are there any mentors or food heroes you would like to thank? Brad Burton (head chef during my apprenticeship), Dan Barber (obviously), and Kyle Connaughton (Single Thread Farms) made me look harder.

What are your favourite books or cookbooks? Dark Emu, by Bruce Pascoe, The Third Plate, by Dan Barber, The Art of Fermentation, by Sandor Ellix Katz.

What is the dish on your own menu that most engages you? Anything to do with the pork we raise on the property.

What do you make from scratch? Can I say pork? Or all of our charcuterie.

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing what you are doing? Umm…architecture

How do you like to spend your day off? Not working, preferably.

What does success mean to you? 35 pax a day, and only produce off the property used.

What is your current obsession, the thing you think about at 3am? Arimia, I want it to be perfect.

What are the qualities you most admire in others? Persistence and consistency.

Can you tell us something we don’t know about you? I have a disdain for Bob Marley and Jeff Buckley.

Which three words best describe your cooking style? Honest, clean and delicious – I hope.

If you could eat only one thing today, what would it be? Coco Pops.

What do you see when you think of the cuisine of your own country? Complex, diverse, vulnerable and unique.

Which producer or supplier really brightens your day? I have an old Italian grower that produces some really weird and wonderful fruits and vegetables. When he arrives at Arimia, generally during lunch service, it’s like he owns the place, he tries whatever he wants and talks to anyone he feels. It drives me mad but gives me a laugh at the same time.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? I swear too much, but overused phrases… “Why is it so difficult?”

Which talent would you most like to have? Patience or magic.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I would like to not need everything right now.

What do you think the food of the future will look like? Hopefully food…didn’t someone say that already?

Do you have a motto or mantra? Don’t misuse the term “local”.

What is your number one sustainability tip or trick? Keep pushing.

Marcello & Andrea Gallotti, Erasmus:

Erasmus

What is your idea of perfect happiness? M+A: Perfection does not exist. Once you know this, you are one step closer to happiness.

What is the purest thing you have ever tasted? M: The source water of Tevere, the river of Rome, my hometown. A: Fresh Waddenoysters from the Netherlands, collected by the Slow Food Fishermen Barbara and Jan Geertsema (GoedeVissers).

What was your first experience with sustainable eating? M: Collecting vegetables with my grandmother in her garden when I was five years old, and her explaining how to care for the plant and to be thankful to them for giving us food.

What do you love most about what you do? M: People’s reaction when they eat food I have cooked. A: Reading my guests spoken and not-spoken language to understand their needs and passions… and trying to satisfy them.

What do you consider the most overrated ingredient? M: Foie gras. A: Lobster.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever been taught? M: Respect. A: Love.

Are there any mentors or food heroes you would like to thank? M: Gualtiero Marchesi, Brillat-Savarin, Antonin Carème, Paul Bocuse. A: And Carlo Petrini.

What are your favourite books or cookbooks? M: Talismano della felicitá by Ada Boni, Larousse Gastronomique, Le grand livre de cuisine by Auguste Escoffier.

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing what you are doing? M: Teaching fencing. A: Research on organic agriculture.

What does success mean to you? M: To accomplish my duty. A: To share values with others.

What is your current obsession, the thing you think about at 3am? M+A: How will we ever get rid of these debts?

What are the qualities you most admire in others? M: Honesty, humbleness, tenacity. A: Patience.

Can you tell us something we don’t know about you? A: I am planning to run my first marathon in 2019.

Which three words best describe your cooking style? M: Authenticity, purity, sense.

If you could eat only one thing today, what would it be? M: Spaghetti al pomodoro. A: Butterbrot.

What do you see when you think of the cuisine of your own country? M: A family having dinner around a table. A: Many great heads, too many small hearts.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? M: It is not good enough.

Do you have a motto or mantra? A: Excellence is when good and beautiful enforce each other. M: Daje!

What is your number one sustainability tip or trick? A: Be honest with yourself. M: Don’t do things to others which you would not like to be done to you.

With apologies to Marcel Proust.