Jeremy Lee, chef and co-owner of Quo Vadis, London W1 A first pot of the day of Barry’s Tea (milk, no sugar) is vital, and where a biscuit and newspaper were once the order of the day, for the most part, a biscuit is now a treat, usually a Rich Tea or a Le Petit Beurre.The day given its greeting – Soho ahoy.It is hard to cycle past Maison Bertaux and not be lured by the delights of a pain au chocolat, pain au raisin, cheese croissant or indeed a croissant to dunk in a cappuccino at Quo Vadis, or a flat white from Flat White on Berwick Street.Above left: a pot of Barry’s Tea to start the day.Above right: pastéis de nata from Café de NataMore often than not, there is a call to go and buy something forgotten or not delivered.

Cycling around the West End of London has always been a treat, with many a fine spot to make a pit stop.The first of the pastel de nata baked at the custard tart shop [Café de Nata] opposite the Algerian Coffee Stores are a mighty fine elevenses, and as Gelupo is around the corner, a swift visit for a tub of pistachio and hazelnut ice-cream.Then to Lina Stores for focaccia and mortadella; a wealth of naughty biscuits; salami; prosciutto; a fresh, dripping mozzarella.Pursuits concluded, cravings sated, ’tis to the kitchen we go, with extra treats in hand.Jeremy Lee: ‘There is no question of hunger games’The kitchen is in full midmorning swing.

Beside each chopping board there is always a pot bristling with spoons to dip into simmering pans, ensuring all tastes well while preparing dishes for the menu.For the most part, dishes require tasting so often there is no question of hunger games, and precious little appetite – or so one might think.Quo Vadis take vittles for the crew as seriously as the dishes prepared for the dining rooms.A joyful find on the pass today is a wholemeal focaccia just out of the oven stuffed with porchetta tonnato and a salad of good things left over from the day before (baked tomatoes, grilled courgettes).At Neal’s Yard Dairy, no visit is complete without tasting at least five different cheeses.

If returning to Maison Bertaux, eyes are easily drawn towards the best strawberry tart in the capital (quite right, too, as this is the oldest French patisserie in London), and chocolate eclairs and coffee choux puffs,Then a return to Quo Vadis, the great dame of Dean Street,Clockwise from top left: croissants from Maison Bertaux; shopping at Neal’s Yard Dairy; focaccia and mortadella from Lina Stores; pistachio and hazelnut ice-cream from GelupoA dish or three might be sampled through lunch, which may very well include the involvement of puddings,We ensure the peaches, plums, currants and berries are on form, and indeed the pistachio cake, the meringues, ice-cream, sorbet and biscuits,Today, a dear friend drops off a still-warm sausage roll from The Ginger Pig, which has to be shared with the kitchen in the afternoon.

An evening stroll along the terrace, through the dining rooms to the club, invariably coincides with the sounding of the martini gong and that terrible choice: a negroni, or a martini? I have my martini biting cold, straight up with a twist.Above left: pudding at Quo Vadis.Above right: a martini – biting cold, straight up with a twistA dear friend calls to say he has never eaten at Café Cecilia, so off we go to plates of crisp fried sage, panisse, ravioli, a lemon sole and a fleet of puddings.I am glad for a walk later as home is just round the corner.Milli Taylor, head of the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, LondonAll of our cakes are made in our delis, and we taste them every week to keep on top of quality and to see if we can make any improvements or seasonal changes.

So, this is breakfast after a black coffee.We make all the viennoiserie at our central kitchen, and then they go out to each site to prove and bake.I eat these with Jens, our pastry development chef, to check the texture and crumb.Clockwise from top left: viennoiserie from Ottolenghi central kitchen; udon noodles at Koya Ko in Hackney, east London; Ottolenghi cakes to test; octopus and fava beans at Ottolenghi SpitalfieldsAfter a welcome few hours of just a savoury spoon of this and that from the development chefs in the test kitchen, we all head to Koya Ko in Hackney, east London, to try our guest chef dish of udon.It is really good to sit down as a team and catch up over a bowl of noodles.

We cycle in convoy to Yard Sale Pizza to cook our collaboration recipe with their team.Last month, £1 from every pizza sold went to Magic Breakfast, to provide children with a meal before school.Above left: manti and (above right) mushrooms and cashew sauce, both at Ottolenghi SpitalfieldsI jump on a bike to Ottolenghi Spitalfields, where I taste some new dishes with head chef Christos and manager Rui.We try octopus and fava beans, manti [Turkish dumplings] and a new vegan dish of grilled oyster mushrooms and cashew sauce.Then, I cycle home and fall asleep on the sofa.

True story.Roberta Hall-McCarron, chef and owner of The Little Chartroom, Eleanore, and Ardfern, Edinburgh Generally, I have weekends off, but I still get up at 6.30am as I have a two-year-old.Sunday is our day to go and do nice things; our daughter gets cabin fever, so we’ll go for a walk, but it has to be coffee first.Then, Hobz Bakery is a 10-minute walk from our flat, so we’ll perch on a seat outside and have one of their amazing pastries or a toastie, which is a punchy breakfast.

I might get a peanut miso cookie to take away for later, too.Top: a breakfast pastry and toastie from Hobz Bakery, Edinburgh.Above: broth and a bagel for lunchLunch is always pretty chilled.It’s just soup – ham hock or chicken broth with vegetables, such as mushrooms or broccoli – and a bagel.Then, there’s always oatcakes in the house, so I might have some with cheese or ham, if I want a snack.

Dinner is quite traditional: we tend to do a roast chicken, and the leftovers are great in sandwiches over the next couple of days.Then, lots of green vegetables, cauliflower cheese, yorkshire puddings and tons of gravy.I’m not making the gravy myself at home, though; I’m fine with Bisto, it’s one of those nostalgic things I grew up with.We’ll treat ourselves to something from The Pastry Section for dessert; their chocolate cakes are amazing.We then stick something on the TV and most likely fall asleep while watching.

Simon Rogan, chef and owner of L’Enclume, Cartmel, CumbriaI flit between having honey porridge with a side of Bovril on toast, which is something I grew up with, or strawberry yoghurt, a cup of tea and an orange juice; or a bowl of muesli with berries and yoghurt, which is quicker and easier to make at work.One of those will fill me up.When I’m at home and don’t have a lot of time at lunch, I’ll cobble together a caprese – I love it and could eat this every day.For something more substantial, though, I’ll go for a pitta pizza with various toppings (chilli, Italian meats, basil) and a side of chips, salad and garlic mayo.Clockwise from top left: muesli and berry yoghurt for breakfast; caprese salad; chicken thighs roasted in five-spice; green papaya som tum saladDinner is never at a set time, depending on if I’m at home, working, or visiting the restaurant.

At home, my all-time favourite is a green papaya som tam salad, and I always have a batch of this on the go.Today, I served it with chicken thighs roasted in five-spice, plus some rice.My family loves it.I’ll have a beer or a vodka lime and soda – I’m trying to reduce my sugar intake, so it’s my drink of choice at the moment.Having said that, I do love a slice of lemon meringue pie for dessert.

Max Rocha, chef and owner of Café Cecilia, London E8, and author of the Café Cecilia CookbookWe serve breakfast at the restaurant Fridays to Sundays, so on those days I’ll get stuck into the breakfast mise en place at about 7.30am and make myself yoghurt and granola.Otherwise, I’ll grab cold porridge and nuts from Marks & Spencer – there’s something about the cold part I love.I’ll also have sparkling water, then a coffee at 9am.We have a late staff breakfast at 11am, before lunch service.

On a Wednesday and Thursday, front-of-house makes it, otherwise whichever chef is on the breakfast shift will.It’s always eggs, because they’re such good energy for the day, so we’ll have either a frittata or scrambled eggs, toast, plus bacon on weekends.Sometimes, we have pancakes as a treat.Clockwise from top left: cold porridge and nuts from Marks & Spencer for breakfast; lunch prepared for and by the staff at the restaurant – it will always involve eggs; a snack; chicken caesar salad prepared for staff in the restaurant kitchenI stopped drinking a couple of years ago, so snacks were a big thing for me to alleviate stress.I’m trying to snack less now; I can’t have one of something or I’ll eat a thousand! I might have something around 3pm, though, like a granola bar.

And if it’s a busy service, I’ll have a Diet Coke to take the edge off,We eat dinner early, at 5pm, and that’s quite important as I then sleep better,What we have depends on what’s in the kitchen,We get lots of whole animals in, so there’s usually offcuts of lamb legs,We’ll do mince, or lasagne, but today we have chicken caesar salad.

I like one of the newer members of staff to make it, as it’s good to learn how to be organised with prep, but it also gives them a creative outlet.Don’t get me wrong, it can also be a lot of tomato pasta, and once in a blue moon I’ll order us all a pizza.When we first opened and I was stressed, I’d get a takeaway when I got home, but that made me feel worse, so after the staff meal that’s me done.It’s hard to wind down after work, but I’m usually asleep by 9pm.It’s not very rock’n’roll, but it suits me – and the restaurant is better for it.

Abby Lee, chef and owner of Mambow, London E5 I’m not a breakfast person.When you stay up so late for work, all you want when you get up in the morning is lots of liquid.I get up around 9am, do some meditation and breathwork, then head straight to work (unless I need to pick up any ingredients).I get to the restaurant around 11am, and I bring the drinks, which is a decaf flat white for me.Top: a takeaway from Somine in Dalston, east London; Lee delivers the morning drinks to the staff at MambowThere are pastries, such as cinnamon swirls, in the back, as well as fruit.

But we all sit down together to eat at about 4.30pm.We alternate who cooks, but this time we have miso butter roast chicken; we always have Chinese-style stir-fry vegetables with oyster sauce, soy sauce, white pepper and leftover chicken stock.We’ll have another salad, too, maybe with red cabbage, za’atar, and crispy onions.As it is a Saturday and we want to use up ingredients, we have an extra treat of calamari.

On a good day, we take 45 minutes for our meal, but if we’re in a rush it could be just 15 minutes.From then on, it’s dinner service and pretty hardcore.We love 100Plus, which is an isotonic drink, and we also use it in our cocktails in the restaurant.It’s so good, but otherwise we’ll have juices with turmeric or ginger.I don’t have a sweet tooth, but towards the end of the night, I’ll pick at any desserts we can’t keep.

I finish up about half-midnight, and I’ll have a takeaway from Somine in Dalston at 1am.I always get the spiced bulgur wheat box, which comes with good flatbread and the usual garlic-chilli sauce, and the spiced lamb kebab.I’ll have a sleepy tea, which is a Vietnamese herbal tea called trà tim sen, to try to wind down, then I’ll have a hot shower and go to bed at 2.30am.This is the healthy version of me now; I used to stay up drinking until 4am.

My body didn’t agree with this cycle of eating, especially when I started.Adrenaline does fill you up and it’s unhealthy, which is why I’ve tried to put in these systems.Tommy Banks, chef and director of The Black Swan at Oldstead; Roots York, and The Abbey Inn in North YorkshireI eat a lot of eggs, and I have to have them every morning with a cup of Yorkshire Tea.Right now, I’m having six scrambled eggs, but I go through phases – before this, it was a big omelette.Sometimes I finish the scrambled eggs with cheese, but we’ve been making merguez sausages from our Herdwick lambs, so I’ll have a couple of those as well – but they’re only small.

I would never find myself in a situation where we don’t have eggs in the house.I have a disease called ulcerative colitis, so I’m quite particular about what I eat.I changed my diet last October; my lifestyle was to eat everything and drink most evenings, but I feel so much better now.I’m going to sound like the most boring person, but during the week I always have the same lunch: I love the full-fat cottage cheese and Greek yoghurt from Longley Farm in Yorkshire, and I’ll have a big bowl of that with berries or other fruit, and almond butter.I get so much grief from my team for my diet, but as I’m always in meetings and popping between restaurants, it has to be something I can eat with a spoon.

We have amazing staff teas in the restaurant, so I might have some meat from that, but I’m also tasting all the time.I’ve had to teach myself that there’s a difference between tasting and eating, because I’m a very greedy person.Above left: scrambled eggs with merguez sausages for breakfast.Above right: rib-eye steaks with bearnaise sauce, courgettes from the garden and olive oil potatoes for dinnerMy day-to-day is generally 8am to 7pm, but if I’m working service then I don’t get home until midnight.As we have animals on the farm, we always have a freezer full of meat at home, and I like that there’s no food miles.

My daughter’s favourite thing in the world is any kind of hollandaise sauce, so we have bearnaise with rib-eye steaks, and courgettes from the garden.Most nights, we’ll also have olive oil potatoes: boil new potatoes, crush them with the back of a cup, then roast them in olive oil and salt until super crisp.Whenever I’m at home, this is what we do, then on the weekend we’ll go to our pub, and I’ll fill my boots with a massive ice-cream sundae.Romy Gill, chef and author of Romy Gill’s India Being freelance, it’s so important to have a routine.I get up at about 7am, then religiously make chai