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Aldo Zilli

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Aldo Zilli is chef patron of the Zilli Fish group and is one of Soho's most flamboyant restaurateurs.

After catering college in Italy he was sent abroad for the winter season to hotels all over Europe. He finally came to England at the age of 19 and decided to concentrate on his passion for Italian food, and started working in Italian restaurants, introducing new cooking methods and eclectic menus, transforming them from little-known venues to celebrity haunts. However, he soon outgrew the kitchen, becoming executive manager and training other chefs in his own impressive style.

Eventually, certain of his own success, Aldo decided to go it alone and acquired his first restaurant in Il Siciliano in Dean Street. Word quickly spread about the quality of food and the atmosphere created by Aldo and soon the restaurant was packed.

In 1988, he bought the premises at 41 Dean Street and opened Signor Zilli, following this in 1993 next door with London's first authentic Italian bar, Signor Zilli Bar. Aldo opened Zilli Fish in Brewer Street in June 1997 and it has been bursting at the seams since its opening, now complemented by an authentic Italian Cafe right next door - Zilli Cafe. Great Italian food and Aldo's legendary sense of humour makes these establishments a magnet for people from the media and entertainment world. In 1996 he was awarded Best Italian Restaurant Award in The London Restaurant Awards and in 1998 he collected the award for Best Media Restaurant for Zilli Fish. He has also won Favourite Showbiz Restaurant for Signor Zilli in the Capital Radio Awards and the London Times recently commented 'Aldo Zilli's kitchen remains on top form, with a menu that favours upmarket ingredients put to simple use'.

His most recent TV series as presenter was Dinner Dates for LWT in Spring 2003 and recent guest appearances have been on The Morning Show (BBC), Rise TV (Channel 4) GMTV (ITV 1). He recorded several series for Carlton Food Network including One Man and His Hob in 2001 as well as Perfect Pasta with Aldo Zilli Aldo's Italian Job and Aldo and Friends, which featured guests such as All Saints, Chris Tarrant and Anthea Turner. In 2000 he co-presented a series for CFN called Two Chefs In Cape with Brian Turner and he has guested on a number of programmes including BBC2's Food & Drink, The Weakest Link, The Vanessa Show, The Generation Game, Channel 4's Light Lunch, Dinner Dates for LWT, GMTV, The London Programme and The Food Factory for ITV. He made his acting debut on an episode of London Bridge shown in October 1998. He also joined Henry Kelly on Classic FM to create A Taste Of Italy, which was broadcast every weekday morning and he also appeared on Virgin Radio's Friday morning breakfast show with Chris Evans. He is a frequent contributor to National and Local radio on food and culinary issues and launched Restaurant Week for London's Totally London campaign with Mayor Ken Livingstone this year. He has featured in TV commercials for First Direct Bank and Orbit Sugar Free Gum.

Aldo has been resident chef for The Sun newspaper, and has written four books Sainsbury's Quick and Easy Italian Food Aldo's Italian Food For Friends (1998) and Zilli Fish (1999). BBC Books published Foolproof Italian in March 2001 and Simon & Schuster published The Zilli Cook Book in October 2003. Hi latest book is Simple Italian Cookery (August 2005, BBC Books).

He has worked as a chef consultant for Safeway and has designed a Zilli dinner service for Poole Pottery.

Aldo's latest venture, The Zilli Cookery School launched in association with Magic of Italy, offers the chance to enjoy a unique cookery school and activity programme in the beautiful surroundings of Abruzzo in Italy.

Aldo is a dynamic personality on television and led the successful team to victory on Celebrity Fit Club on ITV1 this spring, gaining a new slender figure in the process. His success he partly attributes to the healthy eating plan he devised for himself, a diet specifically designed for men.

Aldo's most recent television appearances were on Celebrity X Factor (ITV1) where he along with Paul Rankin, Ross Burden and Jean-Christophe Novelli wowed the audiences with their songs in Italian, French and English - they proved enormously popular making it through to the last stages of the competition.

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Find out how to book Aldo Zilli as the food & drink speaker for your next event by calling TMC Speak Out on 0131 654 1000 or clicking here.

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