Head chef Mark Watson from The Loft@Rumours in Yeadon Up to his elbows in soapy water, Mark Watson enjoyed his job washing up in a popular Ilkley restaurant. He was 13 at the time, and the cash he earned from his part-time job at The Box Tree came in very handy.

But money was not the only thing the work brought him. The former pupil at Guiseley School was so captivated by the activity going on all around him that he soon latched on to the idea of becoming a chef.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was really impressed with the food and they catered for all the banquets at Harewood House so I would go along and help there, " he recalls. "It made a really big impression on me."

So much so, that he enrolled on a course at the reputable Thomas Danby College in Leeds to train as a chef. The skills he acquired led to a job at Bradford Golf Club in Guiseley, where he spent six years. He learned a lot in the kitchen, but never got to grips with the game itself. "I tried to play a few times, but I wasn't very good, " he laughs.

Mark went on to spend nine years at Fat Franco's, an Italian restaurant in Horsforth, running the kitchen for part of that time.

And now 35, he is head chef at the recentlyopened The Loft @ Rumours in Yeadon, creating 'modern European' dishes including Barbary duck breast with stir-fried spring onions, ginger and oyster sauce, fillets of salmon roasted in a lemon and herb butter sauce and wild mushroom ravioli tossed in white wine, tarragon and cream.

Being a new business, Mark - who works alongside his friend, restaurant manger James Spencer - is embracing the challenge. "I enjoy creating things that you won't find on anyone else's menu, " he says. "It is exciting, and has already been very rewarding."

"It is great when people tell you how much they have enjoyed their meal. We opened in January and we have already got quite a few regulars."

Mark lives in Yeadon with his wife Catherine and children, Leah, five, and two-year-old Niall.

Leah loves her dad, "She's very proud of me.

She picks all the chef 's pages out of magazines, " says Mark.

Mark loves being a dad, and spends time with his family whenever his busy schedule allows. "I like taking them to the park to go on the swings.

It is wonderful watching them grow - I can see a bit of me in both of them, and a bit of Catherine."

At home Mark rarely cooks. "Only at Christmas and other special occasions. I work split shifts and I'm only at home for one evening each week.

I tend to cheat and buy a takeaway."

He unwinds with Catherine, watching a DVD and sharing a bottle of wine. "We are on the go a lot of the time, but when we get the chance we put our feet up and relax."