'I'm really having a good time'

Fourth in a series for Maine Restaurant Week.

Declan McGough is Sous Chef at The Blue Spoon.

Job Title: Sous Chef at The Blue Spoon
Best part of the job: Having access to food and time to be creative. I have a blank canvas. I can be sitting at home and think of something and know that I have the kind of leeway that I can do it tomorrow.
What most people don't realize: It looks like a sweaty, grueling job but I often feel a need to let my friends know that it's not bad. I'm really having a good time.
What I wish I'd done before coming here: I feel very lucky that I have the caliber of job that I do without going to culinary school but I don't regret not going. I've been cooking since I was a little kid. My mom's a great cook and I always sat on the kitchen counter. I used a knife; I knew the herbs. I cooked in Ireland and learned a lot about the local food movement way before it hit here culturally. I can't remember a time when I didn't cook.
Dream job in Portland: Billionaire philanthropist
Dream job anywhere else: Billionaire philanthropist sounds pretty good anywhere
Signature dish: My mom's leg of lamb
Underrated ingredient: It frustrates me that certain types of fish go through waves of popularity and disdain. Lobster was once a garbagefish, so was bluefish. Now people don't like mackerel. They randomly become unpopular.
What's missing from the Portland restaurant scene: My dad works on the waterfront and I know how much seafood comes across so I'm surprised that there aren't more exclusively seafood restaurants, like cevicherias.
Tips for home cooks: People screw up something once and they think that it's all over. Definitely, try, try again.
Favorite food film: "Star Wars"
Favorite food book: "The River Cottage Meat Book" by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Favorite music to cook by: I want to listen to jazz when I'm doing my best cooking — Chet Baker, Coltrane, Thelonious Monk.
If I could have any meal and beverage prepared by anyone: I like it when my mom makes leg of lamb at Christmas. I really think that if my mom had two lives, she could have been a great chef. she is an undiscovered great talent. She's cooking right now, I can guarantee it.

— Margo Mallar