Not many serious chefs would admit to eating McDonald's and enjoying it.
Peter Evans, however, the head chef and co-owner of the Hugo's group of restaurants, not only eats the occasional quarter-pounder but does so for reasons other than the taste.
"I'm loyal to my first place of work," he says with only a hint of irony. "I owe them a great deal because they did shape my work ethic."
If there's someone who knows about a work ethic, it's Evans. At almost 36 he has gone from a teenage cog in the fast food machine to one of Australia's most successful and best-known restaurant entrepreneurs.
"Some mates packed bags at Woolworths but I chose fast food restaurants," he says, perched on a leather couch at Hugo's Bar Pizza in Kings Cross.
"It was that McDonaldisation of me as 14-year-old that first taught me about systems, organisation, cleanliness."
If one adjective seems to suggest itself in Evans's company it is "driven".
Like the franchise system that moulded him, he has no time for laziness and his ambitions seem limitless; conversation turns constantly to new ideas and business opportunities: pizza delivery, websites, international expansion, new books, restaurants and product ranges. Just hearing it can wear you out.
The Sun Herald (Sydney), May 3.
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