From Jungle to Judge - Gino D'Acampo was in town!

Pete and Gino in a "logoed shirt off"

The 'King of the Jungle' was seeing how well we can cook!

Wednesday 23rd March 2011

From cooking in the jungle to cooking naked on the telly, Gino D’Acampo is a busy celebrity chef and I was invited down to meet the Italian charmer during the filming of his new show for ITV, There’s No Taste Like Home. The show is taking Gino on a massive tour around the UK celebrating some of the great home cooks and their recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. The cooks from local area are put into a professional kitchen for a “cook off” with the winning dish awarded the honour of taking pride of the place on the restaurant’s menu for a month!

So the tour had stopped off in Harrogate and it was the Restaurant Bar and Grill on Parliament Street that provided the back drop for this episode.  It was strange to walk into the plush surroundings of the Restaurant Bar and Grill to see one half filled with afternoon diners and other the half effectively turned into a TV set with lighting, cables and cameras everywhere! I was under strict instructions that no photos were allowed as the results of the “cook off” were to be kept secret until the show aired. I did joking say that I could just “sneakily use my camera phone when no one was looking” instead of my big camera but had to quickly back track when a few stern looks were thrown in my direction!

With a break in filming and with a flurry of apologetic “sorry for the delay” and  “thanks for waiting” from the production crew, Gino headed in my direction so we could link back to Mike Nicholson in the studio for a couple of chats on air. To be honest I hadn’t minded “waiting” as it was a chance to chill and be plied with drinks from the team at Restaurant Bar and Grill...bless ‘em for keeping me topped up with diet coke!

Gino was on fine form...