GINO D’Acampo is raring to go.

In Manchester, you do not have an Italian restaurant...

We meet a few hours before he pays visit to his recently completed Corn Exchange restaurant, aptly named Gino D’Acampo - My Restaurant.

D'Acampo is in great spirts: assured, animated and even making a few pithy jokes about my name with his famed sense of humour. 

“There might be tears,” he says playfully, dabbing his face with a handkerchief he pulls out of his tracksuit pocket. 

He has much reason to be excited.

Having teamed up with friend and businessman Steven Walker - founder of the Manchester-based Individual restaurant group (RBG, Piccolino) - Gino now has three established London branches of 'My Pasta', with 'My Restaurant' being the TV chef's first foray into 'premium casual dining'.

Boasting 250 covers it will, in D’Acampo’s words, ‘be a true Italian’ featuring recipes from his new cookbook, Gino’s Island in the Sun.

But as the fifth Italian restaurant joining the extensive mix of major chain restaurants at the Corn Exchange, how will Gino's set itself apart and avoid becoming another YAFI (Yet Another F**king Italian).

Does the slew of Italian restaurants in Manchester worry you, Gino? 

Gino: "They’re not Italian. When somebody picks up an Italian name and puts it on top of their restaurant, they pretend to be Italians. That’s the problem in most cities. There is no understanding of which is Italian and which just has an Italian name. There is no one that can do Italian food but the Italians.

"In Manchester, you do not have an Italian restaurant... apart from Piccolino... that’s it."

Well, there is Salvi's... plus four other Italian chains in the Corn Exchange

G: "You can’t to go to Pizza Express or Zizzi and say you’re having an Italian experience. You’re not. You’re having a bastardised dish with an Italian name. No. Just no. We’re not Zizzi. We’re not Pizza Express either. It doesn’t exist in Italy. They wouldn’t last a minute."

Gino Dacampo - My RestaurantGino Dacampo - My Restaurant

So why Manchester?

G: "I’ve always loved Manchester. If I had my way I'd live in Manchester. Unfortunately, with television it’s difficult because everything is in London. The people are cool. The bars and pubs are cool. I’ve always wanted to be a Mancunian."

How did the partnership with Steven Walker come about?

G: "I’ve known Steven for a long time. He’s a huge lover of Italian culture, from clothes to food to wine... everything. He should have been born Italian. He has the wrong surname. He’s one of the few people that gets Italian food as much as an Italian does. When I realised there was that sort of passion behind it – I knew he had the right operation."

Will you be pulling shifts in the kitchen?

G: "Listen, I come to Manchester once a month for around two days – so yes, I’m not going to mess around and go somewhere else. I’m going to go to my house, my restaurant."

So what about the food?

G: "The food is simple. You need the right ingredients, cook it well and put it on the plate. This is what people don’t understand about Italian food. People overcomplicate Italian food. They don’t get that instead of spending so much time trying to work out a recipe, spend that time getting the right ingredients from Italy, bring them here, slice up tomato and serve it."

...and the signature dish?

G: "The pasta. If you want to have a plate of pasta the way Italians have pasta then come here."

."I like pork" (that's a cow Gino)

Tell us about the new book, Gino's Island in the Sun.

G: "The book contains fifty recipes from the island of Sicily. This is probably the most difficult book I’ve done because it’s like writing two books into one. The island of Sardinia and the island of Sicily are completely different. Great recipes. I was most impressed with Sardinia, surprising, I’ve lived half of my life there."

What was it about Sardinia that reignited your passion for cooking?

G: "I like pork. I found a lot of recipes with pork. And I like seafood - that's the main diet, seafood. The islands are some of the most beautiful places in the world."

Do you have a favourite recipe?

G: "The pasta with mussels. If you want to understand about Italian food you need to do this. Many of the recipes in the book are in the restaurant, by the way. Whatever you eat in the restaurant is something that I wrote and tested. The book shows you everything you need to know about Italy."

GinoGino's bar

You recently changed your middle name to ‘Sheffield’, ever considered ‘Manchester’?

G: "If I had my way my name would be Gino 'Manchester' D’acampo. That night I was drunk and because Keith Lemon is an idiot that happened. Look I can’t remove it straight away as the people of Sheffield will be pissed off. So let me have it for another four or five months, then I’ll change it to Gino ‘Mancunian’ D’Acampo. Mancunian sounds very Italian.

"In fact, I’d like to be the mayor of Manchester. I want to be an honourary mayor so I can park wherever I want. No queues anywhere, strolling around with my medals... can you make this happen?"

We met Gino D'Acampo at Selfridges where he was signing his latest book Gino's Island In The Sun. Gino D'Acampo - My Restaurant is now open at The Corn Exchange.