14 » OpenRoad Driver
to purchase the property. But nothing felt
just right until I got together with Top
Table.
How do you see restaurants
consolidating these days?
For sure there are now restaurant groups,
but with the groups each restaurant has its
own individuality. No restaurant has ever
survived without an ambiance related to
the place, because that also brings the type
of people that would be interested in that
type of place.
You’ve written best-selling
cookbooks and hosted your own
TV shows over the years. I say
“Umberto” and people know
exactly who that is. What has the
recognition or notoriety meant for
you?
I enjoy the recognition and love that people
recognize me when I go out because I’m
passionate about what I do in the culinary
industry.
You’re hosting culinary cruises
through the Mediterranean. How
long have you done that, and any
plans to continue?
I’ve been doing it for more than five years
and will be hosting one this fall. I enjoy the
cruises because it gives me a chance to see a
lot of my customers. The Mediterranean in
general is where I grew up, and the cruises
allow me to revisit places I know. I can see
their changes. I get to play the tourist, but
I also enjoy sharing that part of the world
with cruise travelers - the food, the wine,
how people live. I take them to places they
wouldn’t be able to go on their own because
I have a lot of friends. The cruises for me
are a way to connect people, and guests
come back so satisfied, so happy. It changes
their lives.
Your Villa Delia in Ripoli is closed
now but you named it for your mom.
Tell me about her.
Our whole family loved to cook, especially
my mother. She was a beautiful cook. The
kitchen was always the central part of our
home. I grew up on a farm and my mother
would cook with whatever was fresh from
the garden that season. Her approach was
to use ingredients that were fresh, simple
and available at that time. When I think
back to my childhood, the table was a
celebration, a place we met to laugh, talk
and reconnect with family. The food helped
do that, and my mother would always say,
‘”Happy stomach, happy life.”
Away from work, are you still
golfing? What courses interest you?
I love to play golf. I could sleep, eat and
stay on a golf course, but I’m not a good
golfer. I’m happy to play, but I’m not going
to be the next Italian golf star. I tend to
play when I’m on holiday, but two of my
favourite courses are Pebble Beach in
California and the Kukio Golf and Beach
Club on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Where would we find you dining
and who impresses you lately?
Other than one of your own
impeccable restaurants!
I can go almost anywhere. Many times
it is at a restaurant where I know them
and they know me. That’s why I’m there.
For relaxation when I want something
light and fresh with a glass of beer, I love
Japanese restaurants like Tojo’s and Zest.
If I’m going to the opera I might stop by
Le Crocodile, Cioppino’s or Bishop’s, and
if I’m driving home and didn’t have time
to eat, I’ll stop at La Cucina in North
Vancouver for a light pasta dish, a salad
and a glass of wine.
Didn’t you hire Michel Jacob, John
Bishop and Pino Posteraro early on
in their legendary careers?
Yes, Michel, John, and Pino all worked
with me and now each has their own
restaurant. It makes me proud because
I have a lot of respect for each of them
and for their professional approach to the
restaurant business.
I hear you love to drive BMWs?
What do you love about your X5M?
I traded in my Porsche Cayenne turbo for
the BMW X5M five years ago and it’s a
fantastic car! The X5M is one of the most
fun machines I’ve ever driven.
RAPID FIRE
If you had to choose your
very last meal…
I’d probably be so upset to be
leaving, I wouldn’t eat! But maybe
some homemade tagliolini with
white truffle shavings.
Reincarnation as an animal...
A Shih Tzu Maltese cross.
Red or white?
Red.
Most proud of?
Building a villa and planting
vineyards in Tuscany. I opened
Villa Delia, a cooking school, so
that people from all over the world
could have a taste of Tuscany.
Most beautiful thing I ever
saw?
Once, while I was on a cruise
ship having a massage, I looked
out the window to see the island
of Stromboli. At that exact
moment there were puffs of smoke
emerging from its volcano! The
timing was amazing!
Last concert I attended?
Adele, in Vancouver.
You’ll never see me....
Eating bad food!
If I could drive anything, it
would be…
A Ferrari.