Since its opening in 2013, Gino D'Acampo's My Pasta Bar restaurant chain has made significant losses resulting in millions being borrowed, staff lay-offs and, finally, its liquidation.
The money owed includes £4,939,332 to 49 creditors, £113,975 to HMRC and £37,887 to My Pasta Bar staff. All assets will be sold to repay creditors and the businesses will be closed down. D’Acampo’s primary My Restaurant chain is unaffected by this.
My Pasta Bar’s offering was simple: quick, authentic pasta dishes for working Londoners, inspired by “Gino’s own experience of the fresh food markets of Naples”. The chain had branches in Fleet Street, Leadenhall Market and Bishopsgate. Two of these, however, didn’t reopen their doors when restrictions were eased.
In October 2020, D’Acampo received a bailout from Sir Malcolm Walker, founder of the supermarket giant Iceland, and senior executive Tarsem Dhaliwal. The six-figure loan, however, wasn’t enough to save the chain.
D’Acampo himself has a net worth of £8 million and earns roughly £2 million each year, according to the Manchester Evening News. The 45-year-old made his name through regular appearances on This Morning, as well as winning I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2009.
The chef owns multiple companies, including Gino D’Acampo Holdings, which holds £1.65 million in investments, including over £800,000 in property. He also has a company for his TV earnings, which holds at least £1 million. Gino lives with his family in a Grade II listed, £1.25 million home in Hertfordshire and has a holiday home in Sardinia.
He said in an interview with OK! : "I drive... I own a couple of Ferraris, like many Italians, as well as a Porsche, big jeep and Harley Davidson”.
In the same interview, he went on to describe his "high-tech military boat, made to my specification, which cost more than £1 million".
For more celebrity chef news, find out about the ex-Fat Duck pastry chef suing Heston.