Diego – the best in the business

How old is Diego Masciaga? A quick appraisal of his front-of-house career and you'd have thought he must be ready for retirement and a free bus pass.

His CV certainly reads like the life story of a veteran in his field. Over the years he's worked at Le Gavroche, fronted three three-Michelin-starred restaurants and opened Le Mazarin in London (which gained a Michelin star four months later and went bust when he left). He is one of the select few to hold a Master of Culinary Arts, trains butlers for Prince Charles and has served Boris Yeltsin at the Kremlin and the Queen at Windsor.

It's at Michel Roux's Waterside Inn, though, that he's made his name. For the past 15 years he's managed the three-Michelin-starred restaurant and made his mark on the style and level of service there. As Roux says: "Diego is the Waterside Inn and the Waterside Inn is Diego."

It's a surprise, then, when Masciaga walks in through the door, all charm and energy, a man of only 39 years. His youthfulness can lead to only one question: how has he managed to fit it all in?

Hard work from the age of 13, he explains. Born in Stresa, a region of Italy known for its chefs and maître d's, his first job as a waiter in a 500-seat restaurant was followed swiftly by enrolment at catering college at 14 to study service and management.

For Masciaga the choice of career was easy. "I wasn't very academic, so I went into catering. It was that or working on a farm or in a factory. I loved working in a restaurant, loved the people and talking to them. Working in a restaurant was also considered a great achievement where I came from. To go abroad, learn languages and work in luxurious places was considered a big change in life," he says.

His "big change" came early. After three years of six-month placements in French hotels, working seven days a week and learning the basics of traditional French service, 16-year-old Masciaga found himself at Alain Chapel's three-starred restaurant in France, rubbing shoulders with chefs Alain Ducasse, Michel Roux Jnr and Steven Doherty.

At Chapel's he was young, lonely and unpaid for the first six months. He cried a lot, but was determined to succeed under his mentor. "Alain Chapel was the maestro for me and I had to serve him and his family every day. I had to prepare chicken and lobster in front of him and it was there I learnt about carving and three-star service. It was a great school."

Masciaga was a fast learner and showed talent early. Doherty remembers him clearly: "He was 17, rode a scooter and was teased by the kitchen staff, but even then he shone through. He had a love of people and a love of the job and the people he met. He had an outstanding talent, and if you can see that at 17, it's special."

So impressed was Doherty that 18 months later he swung Masciaga a position in London at Michel Roux's Le Gavroche under Silvano Giraldin, starting as a commis waiter and gaining promotion to chef de rang a month later.

Masciaga quickly developed an instinct for customer's needs. Giraldin says it's that instinct that makes Masciaga possibly the best maître d' in the country. "In our job we say, ‘He's got eyes'," he says. "He has natural psychological skills, a good nature and good diplomatic skills. He knows what's going on in a room even without looking."

Three years at Le Gavroche laid down the foundations for Masciaga's career. In this busy restaurant, he worked alongside Albert and Michel Roux, acquired commercial savvy and was able to observe Giraldin, a master, at work. "We had influential clients," he remembers. "The Queen Mother, David Bowie, lords and ladies. Silvano talked to these people as if he knew them well. I wanted to become him."

Le Mazarin restaurant in London was Masciaga's next move, in 1985. Asked by Albert Roux to open and run it on his own terms, Le Mazarin was more informal than Le Gavroche and better suited to Masciaga's character and relaxed style of service. Four months after opening and the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star. It became Masciaga's "little jewel" and one of Roux's most successful restaurants. Masciaga was just 22.

He started as first maÁ®tre d' and was promoted six months later to restaurant manager. With backing from Roux, he began to loosen the previously strict French style, moving away from wholly-plated service, hiring more Italian, Spanish and German front-of-house staff and making the kitchen more flexible.

Masciaga knows his clients come for Roux's cooking, but says the ratio of food to service has changed since he started from 90:10 to 50:50 and 50% of customers are now regulars. Roux admits Masciaga's contribution to the Waterside is significant. "He's brought people to the restaurant and keeps people coming back again and again," he says.

So what is three-star service in Masciaga's book? "Honesty is important - don't play around with guests. And consistency: some places you go to and it's wonderful, then you go back a month later and it isn't. I also try not to change the staff too much. Of the 18 staff I have, 12 have been here between two and six years."

Apart from a six-month period when Masciaga was lured away to manage Restaurant Gualtiero Marchesi in Italy - it didn't work out and Masciaga had to share his position with his replacement for a year - Masciaga is in his 15th year at the Waterside.

So what next? "If I leave the Waterside, where am I going to go?" he asks. "I'm satisfied here. I'm only Diego from a little village in Italy and heads of state write to me at Christmas and invite me to their places. I wouldn't get that anywhere else.

"Mr Roux gives me 100% freedom, and if I didn't like it I wouldn't be here. I get headhunted a lot for big jobs, but my personality suits the Waterside and the Waterside suits me."

Points of view on Diego Masciaga
Benoit Radenne
Assistant restaurant manager, Waterside Inn
"Even after 10 years of working with him, I'm still learning. He is an example. He shares his skills and knowledge and there's never any tension with the staff. We are all very loyal as a result."

Michel Roux
Owner, Waterside Inn
"It's important to know that Diego doesn't do the job; he does what he was born to do. He was born to make people happy. The client just melts because he is a nice person - I wish I could do the same."

Steven Doherty
Chef/proprietor, Punch Bowl Inn/Spread Eagle
"What can I say? He's probably the finest maÁ®tre d' I've ever seen in my life. He has an outstanding talent. The more amazing thing is that even now, all these years on, Diego has lost none of the vibrancy and enthusiasm that he once had. When you see him working, the natural love of what he does shines through."

Diego's tips for great service
* Learn the skills of service. You need to know what you are doing and talking about in terms of wine, food and service.
* Personality comes first, but at the same time you need to be humble. Service needs to be inside you. Skills are important but pleasing is more important than putting a plate in front of people.
* All guests need to feel important, whether they have a Rolls-Royce or Cinquecento outside.
* Your customers need to feel relaxed. If guests feel a place isn't professional, they get tense, and it's important to detect those people. Personal attention is what people want, and if a guest has to ask for something, you have already made the mistake.
* Build a following with your staff. Show them you are with them and lead by example.
* When you work for a boss who has to pay bills you have to be commercial, although in a three-starred restaurant the guest mustn't see that, or be underestimated. If people ask me to order wine I never offer anything over £30. If a guest feels cheated, the service is wrong.