Over a phone call from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Conrad Gallagher reflects on where it all went right. It is the week of his 50th birthday and life seems good for the celebrity chef who fell to earth.
It has taken two years to convince him to agree to an interview. The Donegal native is extremely wary of the Irish media - and this is his first time in eight years to speak to an Irish publication. When you get to 50, you are definitely not interested in taking any more risks, he says.
Gallagher now owns Food Concepts 360, a consultancy for the hotel and restaurant industry with clients across the Middle East, Africa and the US. After his roller-coaster years - which included Michelin-star success, bankruptcy, forced detention, a high-profile criminal trial, depression and two bouts of cancer - he is back on his feet.