People should always have a good bottle of extra virgin olive oil, a packet of pasta, tinned tomatoes and a good cheese somewhere in their fridge.
Gino D'Acampo
I have a nap every afternoon like a little boy. Or an old man. Depending on how you look at it.
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.
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.
Rome is the capital of Europe; it's as simple as that. You need to see what the Romans did 2,000 years ago. They were so advanced compared to the rest of the world. They showed us how to make roads, toilet seats, how to do irrigation, and more. When you see the Colosseum you won't believe it was built so long ago.
I'd love everyone to try authentic Italian food.
A lot of people believe Italian food is tasty because there are a lot of ingredients. But they don't understand that the reason why it's tasty is because there are less ingredients than in any other cuisine.
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.
I tell everybody that you haven't lived a good life if you haven't made a mistake.
If you've ever wondered what it's like to be with me in the pub or a club, just watch 'Celebrity Juice.'
The problem many people have with Italian food is they over-complicate it. Italian food is extremely simple.
The problem that people have is that they eat too large portion sizes. Italians have been eating pasta for hundreds and hundreds of years, and we've never been an obese nation. We do the pasta, the pizza, all the cheeses, but it all has to do with how much you eat.
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.
Naples is famous for its handmade ties so I always buy them there.
Generally, Italians just eat better. They're not doing that thing where they're eating two or three hundred grams of pasta. They're never eating a carbonara sauce with a tub of cream in it.
The only way you could replicate the way I grew up, with no access to supermarkets or petrol stations, would be to live on a farm in the middle of Wales.
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.
We Italians respect food and ingredients more than anyone else.
My favorite pizza is the real Neapolitan - Italian sausage, friarielli, mozzarella and chilli.
If you want to go for a romantic break, or a quick break in Italy, it has to be Venice.
Venice is incredible. Although you may have seen it in pictures, you can't grasp how beautiful it is until you visit.
I like Chinese and Indian food, but only every couple of weeks.
My mother would never say anything I cooked for her was great. She was always a 'Yeah, but' person. When she tasted my food, I used to say to her 'Don't tell me too straight, lie to me!' She couldn't even understand why I was on television.
I had wanted to be a dentist, but ended up being a chef. I think I've always had a fascination for jobs that have white jackets.
I understood food from a very early age. I understood the combination of ingredients very early.
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.
I always go back to Italy for holidays because I live half my life on the island of Sardinia.
In the D'Acampo family we have pancakes with banana and chocolate sauce for breakfast every Sunday, no matter what.
I think if you're a good person and you show that you learned from all the mistakes that you made you move on with your life. Everybody will accept that. Only an idiot will not accept that or keep reminding you of it and keep pointing that finger.
French food is too poncy.
I'm very lucky because I can say to my wife, 'Is there any chance we can have shepherd's pie or this or that tonight,' and she does it very well - especially as I don't always want to cook!
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.
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'm the type of person who doesn't do television just for the sake of it.
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.
When I decide something, I have to do something to make it happen.
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.
Italian people are so proud to show off. A little bit too much, I have to say. Wherever you go, they prepare a buffet and they get offended if you don't try things.
My house is very normal - only I have three dishwashers, two fridges and hobs everywhere.
I was a boy, so I decided to get married and then I will be a man.
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.
The secret of making a mistake is not to regret it, or regret it until a certain point, but to learn from it.
Get on with your life and learn to become a better man and that's the way I live my life.
Food should be simple, colorful and accessible to everybody.
The personality of a restaurant is very important.
With me and my family, we have nothing to hide.
Everything changed for me when my first son Luciano was born. That moment makes you realize you are not here by yourself any more and it is an experience that changes you.
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.
I am still around too many Italian people to start speaking like a guy from London. I live in Italy for six months of the year, all the people in my restaurants are Italian and it means that when I speak, it is always with an Italian accent in my head.
I like women. I enjoy the company of women. What's wrong with that?
