Young chef in a hurry who landed in the soup

From being a young man in a hurry, Conrad Gallagher has run into trouble in the space of six short years.

In 1996, at the age of 26, he confirmed a meteoric rise in the food business with the dramatic expansion of his first Peacock Alley restaurant in Dublin.Then, the man who as a nine-year-old boy had successfully passed himself off as 14 to land a hotel kitchen job in Donegal, was still improvising to get ahead.

His bank had been reluctant to back the transformation of Peacock Alley from 30-seater in a Baggot Street basement to an 80-seater with all the trimmings. As a result, he said, "I found I was having to rob Peter to pay Paul. It was touch and go all the time."

Backing or no backing, Gallagher reached for the stars in his new premises and soon caught one, in the 1998 edition of the Michelin Guide - the gourmet's bible.

As his relentless rise continued, Peacock Alley moved again, this time into the plush surrounds of the Fitzwilliam Hotel on St Stephen's Green. He took on the running of a second restaurant in the same premises and was also involved in two others, before things started to go sour. By the year 2000, his extra-curricular projects had all failed, amid reports that some suppliers would now only work for him on a cash-on-delivery basis.

His involvement was reduced again to Peacock Alley and the Fitzwilliam welcomed his renewed focus after a period when the management said he was "stretching himself too much".

That relationship too would end badly when, in December 2000, Gallagher was arrested on charges of stealing paintings from the hotel - a "misunderstanding", he has always claimed.

The chef's troubles continued earlier this year when he was sacked from the London restaurant 179 Shaftesbury Avenue by the Mean Fiddler Group. The restaurant had suffered a number of poor reviews, including one by the Daily Telegraph headed: "One of the worst meals of my life."

He is again living in the US. With a warrant issued for his arrest, he "fully intends" to return and face the charges, his solicitor said last night.