Top 50 Gino DAcampo Quotes

French food is too poncy.

I like Chinese and Indian food, but only every couple of weeks.

There is a huge misconception that you need to spend hours in the kitchen to produce something special.

My house is very normal – only I have three dishwashers, two fridges and hobs everywhere.

I spent a week of my honeymoon on a cruise ship and it was a nightmare. Never again.

In the D’Acampo family we have pancakes with banana and chocolate sauce for breakfast every Sunday, no matter what.

I do what I want, I say what I want and I do it when I want. I live my life the way I want to live it, which I think people appreciate it.

With me and my family, we have nothing to hide.

There’s no point spending every day with the kids and not talking to each other. I’d rather spend one very intense day together.

The best place to go in Italy for a summer holiday is the island of Sardinia.

Hearing other celebrities moaning about the bad things about being famous – there is no worst thing. If you don’t want to be famous, just stop it and go and be a doctor or a teacher.

I was a boy, so I decided to get married and then I will be a man.

If I’m feeling nostalgic, the first thing I do is open a packet of spaghetti, olive oil in a pan, garlic, a little bit of chili, a sprinkle of fresh parsley, and that’s it. It reminds me of my mum.

I thought, ‘This is not going to drag me down, this is going to make me a better man.’ So I came out of prison a man with a plan, determined to set up a business importing Italian ingredients.

I’m the kind of guy who can’t stay still.

I think it’s a good thing that I eat well. Don’t get me wrong, I go for fish and chips sometimes or the odd kebab, but you need more healthy food than bad.

There is no way on Earth I’m going to get a call from ‘Bake Off!’ It is a British institution. People sit down to watch it with a cup of tea. The last thing they want is Gino D’Acampo!

My father always encouraged me to do whatever I wanted, providing I was happy. He wanted me to go to school, but because I never wanted to, it was the only thing we argued about.

My grandfather used to be a chef and I remember going to his restaurant to peel potatoes and clean his floor. He used to go out and kiss all the girls in the restaurant and I thought ‘oh this is good… one day I want to be like him.’

One thing we don’t have in Italy is the culture of Chinese, Indian, French and Thai food.

My only ambition was to have a restaurant and bring real Italian food to this country. Television was never even part of my idea, so I can say without hesitation that I am living someone else’s dream.

For many, the gastronomic heart of Italy is the Emilia-Romagna region. Its capital is Bologna, which is often overlooked by tourists but has a beautiful historic centre and a lively yet chilled-out atmosphere.

Everybody in Italy cooks. They have a better knowledge of the kitchen – that’s the place around which the whole of Italian society revolves.

It was totally insane doing goat yoga in San Francisco.

Food should be simple, colorful and accessible to everybody.

I don’t care about flowers or chocolates or anything like that, that’s not me.

I get lots of female attention on social media and some of it is disgusting. But my wife doesn’t really care.

My kids are not allowed to be fussy eaters. The problem with fussy children is their stupid parents. I run a family kitchen and in my house we don’t have options. I never had options, why should they?

We don’t do spaghetti and Bolognese sauce together in Italy. That is technically wrong because when you lift up the spaghetti the sauce will just run down. The way to do it is to use pasta like fettuccine or tagliatelle so the sauce sticks to it.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be with me in the pub or a club, just watch ‘Celebrity Juice.’

Only the French people say French food is the finest cuisine in the world. If you ask anyone else, they will tell you the best food in the world is Italian.

Always buy dry pasta, not fresh. 90 percent of Italians use dried pasta as it keeps its al dente shape more perfectly when cooked.

When I was eight years old, my mum and dad took me skiing in Valle d’Aosta in northern Italy. I’m not usually a huge fan of snow or cold places, but I loved the fact that we were together as a family.

As far as Italian ingredients, I always have one of those plants of fresh basil in the house, and some mozzarella in the fridge.

The secret of making a mistake is not to regret it, or regret it until a certain point, but to learn from it.

I can cook in front of millions of people on TV, I don’t care. But cooking for my own family really freaked me out. If they don’t like it, they tell you.

My wife is a very clever woman. She knows when to say something and when to bite her tongue.

Get on with your life and learn to become a better man and that’s the way I live my life.

I have a nap every afternoon like a little boy. Or an old man. Depending on how you look at it.

You’ll never see an Italian go on a diet.

We have a big garden; there’s a swimming pool, and we keep chickens. I love them. I love getting up in the morning and collecting the eggs.

I came from a very lower-working-class family in Torre del Greco.

I like women. I enjoy the company of women. What’s wrong with that?

My mum and dad weren’t wealthy people. We used to have pasta every day, meat once a week, fish was once every two weeks, presents only at Christmas and birthday.

I’m the king of napping. I can nap and I snore. Then I wake up, go to the toilet, wash my face, have a coffee and it’s like a brand new day.

My worst buy has always been cars and boats. I used to own two Ferraris, but as much as they’re beautiful, they’re a waste of money.

Rushing around my restaurants and doing a lot of walking when I film in Italy and a bit of swimming and running keeps me thin.

The personality of a restaurant is very important.

Between my brain and my mouth there should be a filter where common sense kicks in before I deliver a word, but I think when God made me he forgot the filter.

Nowadays, everyone writes a cookbook. Models, singers, whatever, everybody thinks that they can do it and cook on TV. What they don’t understand is that if you want to do it well, you need to put in the hours.