What can you tell us about your new restaurant?
It will be an Italian restaurant in the space that was previously The Northall brasserie and will have around 100 covers as well as a PDR. It will have a southern Italian feel, but we are still deciding exactly how it will look. The restaurant’s current chef (and the hotel’s executive chef) André Garrett, who I think is one of the best chefs cooking in the UK at the moment, is going to stay on at the hotel and we will work together on things.
You already work with Corinthia in Malta
Yes. I have a residency at the Corinthia Palace in Malta. I was contacted by David Martin, who is global head of restaurants and bars at Corinthia, and he asked me whether I would like to go to Malta. I wasn’t so sure about it at first but then I arrived and discovered it was almost within swimming distance of Calabria - it’s an hour’s flight. It’s exciting because the hotel is the place where everything started for Corinthia (it opened in 1962). When I got there, I discovered that they love Italian food, so I created a menu of classic Italian dishes and it was a hit.
The new restaurant will see you return to the capital after departing D&D London last year. Why did you leave?
To be honest I’d had enough. I’d been there around eight years and then Des [Gunewardena, D&D co-founder] left. He was a good friend of mine and then things changed slightly. They tried to change my contract and how things worked. When you lose control of what you put on your plate and how to manage your team then you realise it’s time to go. The worst thing that can happen to a chef is to stop their creativity.
What prompted your return?
I missed London. I was doing some consultancy work there and had been offered lots of opportunities but they didn’t feel right for me, and then this one came along and it was different. A lot of friends have been messaging me asking when I’m coming back and have been so happy about the news.
You’ve launched many Italian restaurants including L’anima, Sartoria, Radici and Fiume. How will this new one compare?
The plans is that it’s going to be a bit like L’anima (the award-winning southern Italian restaurant Mazzei opened in 2008). This time we will be using much more British produce, but the style will be similar. I want to go back to my L’anima days when I was fully in control of the cooking and the delivery and ingredients that came through my door.
How would you describe your cooking at L’anima?
I call it sophisticated simplicity. Some of the old L’anima dishes will return, but with British ingredients, and there will also be lots of new ones. I’m looking forward to doing my simple cooking in the UK again. I’m a big fan of farmers markets in the UK and I’ve discovered that I can do my Italian cooking using around 70% of British produce. I’m currently talking to someone in Cambridge about growing vegetables for me. But most of all its about bringing southern Italian food, especially that of Calabria, to London once again.
On opening, it will have been two years since you left London. The Italian scene has changed a bit since then...
I’ve been around checking what’s been happening and I think London really needs a place that can offer a proper Italian experience. There have been some big names coming to the UK from Italy and Dubai, but Italians are famous for being nice and welcoming and friendly - it’s the whole experience - and a lot of places don’t do this. I’ve seen a lot of pasta bars that have opened that pretend to be Italian, and that’s fine, but London needs somewhere that does classic, fantastic Italian cooking. London has missed something like that, and it will be the right time to bring it back.
What are your hopes for the restaurant?
I have never thought I am a superstar chef; I’m just trying to cook my best food. I’m confident that if I keep doing what I have been for the past 10 or 20 years, treating my ingredients with respect and offering the most amazing service, that it will be a success. I’m looking forward to seeing my restaurant full. That would be a magic situation.