Alessandro Borghese: chef interview

My favourite 15-minute supper to make at home is...

I’ll fry something quick and easy. Garlic, oil and chili spaghetti, while listening to ‘Bang a Gong (Get It On)’ by T.Rex.

My guilty pleasure food is...

Pepperoncino – hot peppers in a plate of nice pasta, any time, any day. I’m all for salt rather than sweet.

If you gave me a tenner I’d spend it on...

I don’t know if I can buy a bottle of wine for £10 but the fun part is that I do like to research cost-quality. The world of wines is very big and there are many producers who make bottles that you don’t have to spend a lot of money on.

It’s like finding a little treasure – a bottle of wine that doesn't cost too much, but the quality is high.

A restaurant trend I see being the next big thing is...

Food to share. For Obicà I have created a range of new small plates that enrich the menu with the belief that real luxury is based on simplicity.

We’ve developed the ‘food to share’ concept with a Live Aperitivo tour in Obicà restaurants across the world. These experiences provide the perfect mix of informal atmosphere, dining pleasures, excellent quality food and good music!

On a Sunday I like to...

I wish I could sleep! I enjoy spending quality time with my daughters or I make ‘Paccheri al ragu’ (pasta with meat sauce) as my father cooked.

He would start preparing it early in the morning and fill the house with its smell while it simmered. My father used to tell me that the sauce had to ‘think’.

My favourite country to visit for foodie inspiration is...

Italy. The cuisine comes from all different regions which are very competitive. We all have grandmothers, mothers or aunts who do homemade pasta usually better than a 3-Michelin starred restaurant. My mother-in-law who comes from Calabria says I don’t know how to cook.

What are the three most useful ingredients and why?

Extra virgin olive oil, anchovies and probably parmesan. I find that there are few ingredients that can change taste to many dishes.

I do put a dripping of extra virgin olive oil on every dish I do to finish the dish and there are a lot of varieties of extra virgin olive oil, whether for meat, fish, etc. This olive oil can then be mixed with anchovies like I do in all the Obicà restaurants. It’s excellent to melt down in the pan if you want to sautee vegetables for more taste, even for meat too. Parmesan is like that Italian umami taste.