Max Rocha: ‘A lot of chefs are alcoholics. I’ve worked in restaurants where they have to put salt in the cooking wine so people don’t drink it’

There’s a familiar figure with long grey hair puffing on a cigarillo outside Café Cecilia in Hackney, East London, Max Rocha’s new restaurant. It may still be breakfast time, but designer John Rocha, Max’s father, is already on site for a snagging session with the builders. Inside, Max’s sister, fashion designer Simone, is conducting a meeting at a corner table.