Gino D'Acampo confirms liquidation of My Pasta Bar has ‘nothing to do' with other restaurant businesses

Celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo has confirmed the liquidation of his My Pasta Bar brand has "nothing to do" with his other restaurant businesses.

"When I got back I saw a lot of crap being written about my restaurant. Apparently my restaurant are into liquidation," he posted on Instagram.

"About 10 years ago I opened a business called Pasta Bar, which is serving Italian food very fast in the centre of London, three little shops. We tried for 10 years and then Covid came around and I thought, ‘you know what, we have to close, there's no point pursuing the idea', which, by the way, I absolutely love and I will continue with that with another business.

"So the Pasta Bar business has got nothing to do with my restaurant business, with my import or any other business that I do. It's a standalone business going into liquidation, we have to move on. This is what business is all about. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose."

According to documents filed with Companies House, the business had liabilities of £4,939,332 to 49 creditors including £133,976 to HMRC, and £37,887 in employee arrears and holiday pay.

D'Acampo said his other restaurant businesses were growing "really, really well", with plans to open three new sites this year, including one in Italy.

The chef also spoke of his recently opened second Luciano restaurant in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, joining the first which opened at the ME London hotel on the Strand last year. The new restaurant replaced the former Piccolino site, and D'Acampo said he had invested "thousands and thousands of pounds" into the restaurant.

"I kicked them out, and now it's called Luciano," he announced.

Individual Restaurants, which owns the Piccolino brand, also runs eight My Restaurant sites in partnership with D'Acampo in the Midlands and north of England.