Craig Strong is one of the most passionate, articulate, talented and happy chefs that I have had the privilege to meet. He developed a love for food at an early age and is a graduate of the L'Academie de Cuisine. He has held prominent positions both in the US and Spain, and during his career has worked for a number of noted European chefs.

After our chat I was invited to The Dining Room's table 1 (inside the kitchen) to watch Strong and his team in action, and I was also treated to one of his personalised tasting menus (details below the interview). It was clear to me why this hotel restaurant had a Michelin star and I was not surprised to learn that it had retained it for the second year just days after this interview.

Why did you decide to become a chef?

I come from a big family with lots of older brothers and at six-years-old I was considered too young to do jobs such as mow the lawn. Instead my job was to help look after my mother's vegetable garden. Having been part of growing the vegetables I wanted to see what happened to them so I would hangout with Mum in the kitchen and help out. I developed an immediate affinity for cooking, which just grew and grew and grew.

At 15, I wanted a job to buy a sports car and I got a job in a restaurant. I found out it was just like a big family and this felt familiar to me.

I enjoyed (and still do) the pressure of a kitchen, which I think is similar to sports and I love sports. I also like that it is artistic and scientific (chemistry) all at once, this combination is perfect for me. So as soon as I finished high school I went to culinary school.

How would you describe the cuisine at the The Dining Room?

Modern American (my heart is American) using French techniques (base of cooking) with Mediterranean influences...through my eyes.

What inspires you?

Hard to pinpoint. Some inspirations evolve from fond memories, which I meld with what I am doing today. Some from reading and others through creating personalised menus for guests.

Creating dishes means playing around and doing it until there comes a moment when it feels right and the dish sings. A dish needs harmony, it needs to sing. Like composing music, you hear the notes and then you play them and adjust until it is perfect. The mind's palate says one thing but you taste the dish and if it doesn't harmonise you add more acidity or texture etc, adjusting the dish. I then need to get the look of the dish right.

Tell me more about the food at The Dining Room.

With all my food I am trying to create fun memories; people come to a restaurant like this to have an experience that is new or beyond what they can have at home, in terms of food, service and wine. My dishes have a juxtaposition of being new yet comfortable at the same time. I want dining to be entertaining and comfortable, yet still have synchronised, professional service but without the attitude. It is the diner's time and the diner's money and the experience should not be intimidating. Fine dining certainly, but fun, and this is reflected in my menus. The food should enhance the experience.

I use the highest quality ingredients executed perfectly, but with joy and playfulness, not taking itself too seriously. For example my Caviar Taco, freshly made Crepes, Traditional Garnishes; the juxtaposition of using the very best caviar with classic garnishes yet playful presented as a mini taco, it has refinement, but it makes people laugh.

I also like to play with people's senses and perceptions. My hot and cold carrot soup is an example...hot carrot soup poured tableside over carrot sorbet. We normally associate hot and cold at dessert but the misplacement of it in the meal throws you off, rattles the cage, and prepares you for the experience to come. Of course, it must be executed perfectly.

I also make ingredients rise to another level, such as a scallop dish that involves wrapping a scallop in chicken skin before cooking, the scallop rises to another level.

My goal is to cater to all tastes and levels of sophistication and adventure. I love to do personalised menus for guests; it is my favourite way to eat now. I discuss food preferences, allergies and adventure level (in a subtle way) with guests and I orchestrate a menu and take them on a choreographed experience (from light crescendoing to heavy and descending to dessert) that creates a memory. Diners love the personalised menu.

Even those ordering a typical three-course meal will have the experience taken to a higher level with six courses served, the three courses ordered plus an amuse bouche, pre-dessert, and petit fours.

I have to add that all this would not be possible, nor would the Michelin rating, without my great team, they are all quick thinking and talented.

If you could eat at any restaurant in the world that you haven't tried, which would it be?

At Guy Savoy, the three-Michelin star restaurant in Paris, I have heard a lot of good things. Guy Savoy's food is similar in style to mine.

I half expected you to say The Fat Duck as so many chefs I speak to want to eat there.

For two months from June this year I worked in The Fat Duck's test kitchen, a friend is head of testing. It was an amazing experience, I loved the chemistry. I ate everything on the menu and Heston Blumenthal deserves the praise. It is highly technical and delicious food, and the working environment was professional and warm. He has developed a healthy environment for creating.

His cookbook will be released in the US soon and I saw the final proofs while I was there and am keen to buy my copy...a memento of my time. The food at the restaurant is exactly the same as what's in the book.

Craig Strong: Personalised Tasting Menu

• Caviar Taco, freshly made crepes, traditional garnishes
• Dungeness Crab and Avocado Salad, pink grapefruit, micro greens with honey sherry vinaigrette
• Chilled Kumomoto Oysters, cucumber linguine, cucumber gelee, passion fruit sorbet
• Squash Blossom Tempura, stuffed with brandade, micro greens, and romesco sauce
• Thai Carrot Soup with carrot sorbet
• House Cured Duck Ham, with melon and sweet shrimp
• Lobster with Warm Gelee, coconut milk scented bisque and lobster spring roll
• Diver Scallop, in chicken skin crust, sunchoke puree, quince, fava beans, and chicken jus
• Kobe Style Wagyu Beef, parsley puree, potato mousseline, and cassis bordelaise sauce
• Strawberry Fritter, with balsamic gelato
• Poached Pear and Hazelnut Cake, with dulce de leche mousse and creme fraiche ice cream

If I was to write about all of these dishes individually, singing the praises of each I would make us all ravenous by its end. I found all of chef Strong's comments about the food to be spot on and it was one of those meals that after I would have died happy knowing that this was my last meal. Indeed a memory-making meal.

I must mention that the oyster course converted me from being a purist when it comes to oysters to someone who can now say that oysters can be taken to a higher level than natural. The crab salad was divine. The carrot soup made me laugh out loud, a food first, with its playfulness and surprise. The duck ham dish danced in my mouth. The lobster bisque, which was decadently delicious, was served in an egg shell and the chef gave the dish the whimsical name of Humpty Dumpty. The steak sublime, the desserts amazing. The chef has a real talent for flavour pairings and presentation too; the wine pairings perfect, with a touch of fun.

I would encourage anyone visiting Los Angeles to take a side trip to Pasadena (a short drive) to try your own personalised menu at The Dining Room. Once there you may be tempted to stay a night or two at the Langham, Hungtinton Hotel and Spa, a grand hotel that attracts its fair share of celebrities and stars looking for a luxury retreat. Visit pasadena.langhamhotels.com