W L INTERVIEW
AN INTERVIEW WITH GINO D ' ACAMPO
BY BRIDGET MASON
Born in Torre del Greco , Naples , in Southern Italy , Gino D ' Acampo inherited his grandfather Giovanni ’ s love and passion for cooking . After studying and learning his culinary skills at the Luigi De Medici catering college , at the age of 18 Gino moved to London , England .
Gino started his television career at the age of 24 , giving him over 21 years of experience presenting and participating in many prime-time TV shows . Gino also has two prime-time television shows in his home country for Discovery Italia . With cheeky wit and exceptional talent in the kitchen , Gino regularly appears on ITV ’ s This Morning , as well as having his own show Gino ’ s Italian Escape , where for the past 7 years , he ’ s been traveling around Italy in search of authentic Italian recipes .
In 2017 , Gino went head-to-head with Gordon Ramsay and Fred Sirieix to produce a festive menu for the emergency services . The programme was so successful that the trio reunited for a second series – Gordon , Gino and Fred ’ s Ultimate Road Trip and then a third series which saw them tour across America . The trio have just been to Greece filming their fourth season of the show .
As well as Gino ’ s television career , he also has 17 cookbooks ranging from quick recipes found in ‘ Pronto ’ to everything you need to know about Pasta , ‘ Gino ’ s Pasta ’ and a masterclass on baking , ‘ Italian Home Baking ’. In 2020 he also wrote his first children ’ s cookbook ‘ Wiskella .’
In 2003 Gino ’ s early love for food found him starting and coowning Bontà Italia – now one of the UK ’ s leading importers and distributors of authentic Italian ingredients , supplying food service , restaurant groups , supermarkets , and manufacturers .
More recently , Gino has taken over as presenter on the muchloved hit TV show Family Fortunes and established himself as a prime-time television presenter . Gino has also stepped into the movie world with his cameo role in Disney +’ s Luca .
In 2021 , Gino stepped into the retail world where he partnered with ASDA and created a product range to bring a real taste of Italy to your dinner table . There are over 60 products in the range , from organic store cupboard ingredients , fresh ready meals , and delicious frozen dishes – to feed the whole family .
Gino is also one of the UK ’ s most successful restaurateurs with his restaurant empire growing by the day . Gino has recently partnered with the global hotel giant Innside by Melia in Liverpool with his new 360 SKY BAR restaurant . Wirral Life caught up with him to find out more .
Gino , you have a lot of things going on - new restaurants , TV Programmes and your new food line at ASDA . How do you find the time to fit everything in ? Filofax ... Why are you laughing at me , you think this is a joke ? ( he says laughing ). I ’ m the only guy I think in 2021 who still has a diary . I don ’ t use any technology , I don ’ t trust anyone to organise my dairy . I can go back to 2020 , 2019 and I will have everything written down . My wife Jessica says to me this could be a huge problem ... What will you do if you lose the diary ? I refuse to change but I am going to have to do something because if I lose them , I ’ m in big trouble .
Tell us about your new book ? This is my favourite ; I have the greatest memories of writing this book . I am a very fortunate man who had the opportunity to write a book during Covid . I was one of the lucky ones who was surrounded by my family in Italy . We could still go out on the boat fishing doing family things together . This was a great time for me with special memories .
Covid was and still is a terrible thing that we have had to live through . The book is very different from anything else I have done as I spent a lot more quality time with my family allowing us all to work together to create this book , tasting recipes and creating recipes .
All the family helped me including my son Rocco and my little girl Mia . They were so funny , I did have to check them , my little girl ’ s recipe was beautiful all colourful with flowers everywhere . My wife was amazing , very neat , tidy and organised . I said ' Hey Baby you should write the books from now on !'.
Back home in Italy , do you still have your pet goats ? Aghh you remembered I ’ m impressed ... ( veggies turn away ) Phillipo was cooked , I ’ m sorry it had to be done , he sacrificed himself for us , he tasted tender , cooked with honey and rosemary … Why are you looking at me like that ? Thinking I ’ m a bas *** d for cooking Phillipo . wirrallife . com 19