CARLO, KING OF RESTAURANTS
Never mind Jamie or Gordon... an unknown former hairdresser runs our most remarkable eating- out empire
WHEN it comes to restaurants we’ve all heard of Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay but few of us would recognise the name Carlo Distefano. So it comes as something of a surprise to find that this former hairdresser from Sicily stands at the helm of a UK restaurant empire that dwarfs Ramsay’s operation and is catching up fast on Oliver’s.
While Ramsay’s portfolio of 26 eateries has a turnover of £ 45million and Oliver’s 38- strong Jamie’s Italian chain makes £ 109million, Distefano’s fastgrowing group of 18 Italian restaurants earns revenues of £ 60million a year.
At 72 he still works seven days a week, including Christmas Day, and his only self- indulgence is to give himself three hours off every Sunday to debate religion and politics with the eccentrics declaiming their views at Hyde Park’s Speakers’ Corner.
His customers certainly appreciate his charm and dedication. Over the years Distefano’s flagship Manchester restaurant San Carlo has said “Buon appetito” to a host of big names including Luciano Pavarotti and Rudolf Nureyev and is a magnet for footballers to this day. Italy striker Mario Balotelli was so taken with the Escalope Milanaise that he would call in twice a day and order takeaways if he could not get there in person.
In London Signor Sassi – a restaurant situated opposite Harrods in Knightsbridge – attracts celebrities such as Sir Tom Jones, Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Lionel Richie and Jackie Chan, together with a liberal sprinkling of sheikhs, princes and princesses from Middle Eastern and Far Eastern royal families.
So how has Distefano managed to fly under the radar for so long? Part of the answer is that he started his business in the provinces, far from the prying eyes of London- based restaurant reviewers.
OVER delicious plates of tagliolini with crab ( Distefano) and spaghetti with lobster ( me) at Signor Sassi he charts his route to the top. He was 17 when he left Sicily to pursue a career as a crimper in Leeds. Within three years he was earning £ 40 a week when the average wage was £ 9. But even then food was his real passion and he made regular trips to London to sample fine dining at upmarket venues such as the Savoy.
Distefano finally set up his first restaurant Coco with a partner in Manchester in 1980. It proved such a success that it was soon followed by Coco 2 but Distefano’s ambition had always been to run his own show and in 1992 he opened San Carlo in Birmingham. Over the next 12 years he added more in Bristol, Leicester and Manchester, where he cornered the market in footballers.
After Manchester City was taken over by the former prime minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra in 2007, Shinawatra started frequenting the restaurant and was soon followed by the club’s manager, former England coach Sven- Goran Eriksson and the stars of his first team.
But the biggest night of all came when Manchester United won the Premier League on May 11, 2008. “They all got off the team bus with the trophy and brought it into the restaurant,” says Carlo’s son Marcello, 37, group director of his holding company. “We lost control then for the next two hours. Apart from the players, nobody was interested in eating. Loads of people had their pictures taken with them. People were singing. It was an amazing day.”
By now Distefano had acquired Signor Sassi, his first London restaurant and it was there that plans were first laid for international expansion. In partnership with a Middle Eastern investor branches of Signor Sassi were opened in Kuwait in 2009 and 2010, followed by another in Bangkok in 2012.
In 2010 Distefano also opened the first of what is now a chain of outlets based on a menu of cicchetti, or Venetian tapas, in Manchester. Named Cicchetti this new brand now has two restaurants in London, with a third due to open in Bangkok and then Qatar. New branches of both Signor Sassi and Cicchetti are also planned for Dubai, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Celebrity chef Aldo Zilli, who is a columnist for the Daily Express Saturday magazine, was taken on as head consultant or “chef consigliere” to develop the Cicchetti brand in London and to ensure that its dishes and menus constantly evolve.
THE group’s profile has already attracted the attention of people keen to acquire his company for the sort of sums that would guarantee him a gilded retirement. But life as a member of the idle rich would bore him. He’s a modest man, who has twice turned down the offer of a Cavaliere: a sort of Italian knighthood.
The only material things Distefano splashes out on are cars and suits. He drives a bright blue Rolls- Royce and he acquires his suits from Harrods, with the Italian designer Ermenegildo Zegna being a favourite.
“For me money is not important any more,” he says. “I have no thoughts of retirement. When I die, I die.”