A star turn for Locatelli

When Giorgio Locatelli heard yesterday that he'd won his first Michelin star for his Marylebone restaurant, Locanda Locatelli, it's fair to say he got a bit excited. So excited that, although he was due to appear on Richard and Judy yesterday to talk about his new TV show, he didn't turn up. Even his wife, Plaxy ("long-suffering" Plaxy) was unable to get hold of him to say congratulations. "He's probably gone off on his motorbike to celebrate," she said. "I'm quite used to him doing that and then coming home and going, 'What?'"

Not that the award should have come as a surprise to the 39-year-old chef. When I met Giorgio at his restaurant, just days before the announcement, he was optimistic. "We know our restaurant is worth a star," he crooned, eyes flashing, hair flopping all over his face, "and although I won't cry if we don't get it, I will be very disappointed." He certainly finds himself in illustrious company: Locanda Locatelli, frequented by Madonna, Liz Hurley, Tony Blair and Nigella Lawson, is one of only four new London restaurants to feature in the Michelin guide - the others being Chinese restaurant Hakkasan, The Greenhouse in Mayfair and Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's.

"You know, there is no bible as such for Italian food," continues Giorgio, his Italian-cockney accent reverberating around his office overlooking the kitchen, "because Italian cooking is so varied. So for us to even appear in the guide is wonderful." That said, Michelin stars have always been a source of controversy.

Three years ago, Marco Pierre White at the Oak Room and Nico Ladenis of Chez Nico handed back their three stars, saying the sort of dining Michelin rewarded was out of step with the way customers wanted to eat now. Giorgio admits that, as wonderful as the accolade is, "it doesn't make any difference to the public if you have a star or not.

"A write-up from Fay Maschler is worth more in some ways because so many people read a restaurant review and the reaction is immediate. A bad review hurts because you're here, sweating 16, 18 hours a day. But what can I say?" he adds, "It's been a great year for me, a really productive year."

As well as a Michelin star, Giorgio has gained a large female following thanks to his new TV cookery show, Tony and Giorgio. In it, he romps about the screen creating dishes with restaurateur Tony Allan, looking like a cross between Al Pacino and the Galloping Gourmet.

"I enjoyed doing the show," he sighs, "but I think a lot of chefs go on TV to make it commercially good for themselves, yes? Me? I only did the show to make money to buy the chairs for my restaurant. I can say what I want about anything because I own my restaurant and I don't have to answer to nobody, so I was slagging off supermarkets and everything and the BBC cut it all out! I saw so much tape on the floor, I nearly cry! But it was great working with Tony. He uses lots of gel in his hair and he gets his nails done. Shocking, eh?" Indeed. Locanda Locatelli was the restaurant launch of last year until Jamie Oliver's muchfanfared Fifteen came along - and, naturally, Giorgio can't help having a little dig at the younger chef.

"The guy seems to be all right. He never says he's a great cook, but he's perfect for what he does and he made young people more aware of food. I can understand why he did his thing with Sainsbury's, but you lose a bit of your independence, you know. He's promoted some nice stuff, but that white truffle butter, I'm sorry, that is sh-eet."

His restaurant has had its fair share of headlines. Last year, when lawyer David Silver, treating his wife to a birthday meal, refused to pay £30 for the truffles on his starter, Giorgio's manager, Giovanni Baldino, held his wife to ransom by keeping her in the restaurant until they paid the bill.

"We were 100 per cent in the right," says Giorgio, "and it's funny, but we were all sitting here, voting for who we thought was our best customer and everyone was saying Madonna and Eric Clapton, but I say it's got to be Mr Silver because he came, ate - and gave us a million pounds worth of free exposure. After that story came out, our sales of truffles went up by 75 per cent!"