Nino's balancing act

Nino, Assaggi has become a hugely popular part of the London restaurant scene. How did it get started?

My business partner Pietro Fraccari and I set up the restaurant about seven-and-a-half years ago. We had both been in the restaurant business for many years when, in 1997, the opportunity came up to take over the first floor of a self-contained unit in Notting Hill. We opened the restaurant over a public house in a residential street and down an alleyway with no passing trade. I wasn't even sure if I should register for VAT because we didn't know if anyone would come in.

During the first year we practically lived in the restaurant, working seven days a week with only two other staff - even though we were closed for one-and-a-half days. We brought about 20 customers with us, but other than that we got custom through word of mouth and slowly the business started to grow.

I am a self-taught chef and I had never cooked in an Italian restaurant before, although I have been surrounded by good food all my life. I based the menu on what I used to eat when I was young and kept it simple and seasonal. We seat about 48 people and have a small kitchen and buy our ingredients six days a week.

It's almost impossible to get a table at Assaggi. All the critics, such as AA Gill and Michael Winner say it's one of their favourite restaurants, but you don't get vast amounts of publicity. How did you do it without having to prostitute yourself?

It was word of mouth really. We did receive a huge amount of editorial in the beginning and that helped a lot but we never advertised in any shape or form and I don't believe in PRs. The day I need a PR is the day I close the doors.

One of my customers said to me once, "You must be a madman to open in the first place and a genius to make it work," but we've built up a good following. People recognise the staff, the staff recognise the customers and they have been returning since the day we opened. It's all down to good food and simple service and people appreciate it. That's the formula: keep it simple.

So, you have a good restaurant, you've managed to open it up on your own without investors and you've also managed to have a lifestyle where you work one week on and one week off. How?

As soon as the restaurant started to progress we decided to employ more staff and grow the business at the same time. After a couple of years we started taking a couple of days off because we realised that to work and perform well you needed a bit of time off.

The important thing is you must run the business, not let the business run you. Now we've got to the state where I work for 16 hours a day but Pietro and I have one week on, one week off. We've also got 15 very good staff, they're well looked after and they look after us.

At the end of the day life is about feeling good inside about what you do. I'm happy about what I'm doing, and about the structure that I've got. When I'm off I look forward to going back to work and when I'm at work I look forward to having time off.

But one of you is the chef and the other is the manager. If you're here on alternate weeks, how does that work?

Although Pietro doesn't cook, he is a connoisseur of good food and he tastes all the dishes that I put together. We also have good staff - they have been with us from day one - and we cook very simple things that are easy to follow. If something isn't right, Pietro is the man to correct it, even if he's not a chef. I can rest easy.

I travel a lot and the big complaint I get about England is that London is so expensive, and restaurants in London are so expensive. From my point of view, I would much prefer not to have to charge people a lot of money but it is increasingly hard to do that. What are your thoughts?

It's very difficult. You're almost forced to pass on high prices from the suppliers. The overheads are just astronomical. People say London is expensive and it is - just look at rates, the fixed costs, service charges, national insurance and who knows what.

I spoke to Pietro this morning in Spain. He was in the market buying some sea bass and although it was farmed, it was g6-g7 (£4.20-£4.90) a kg. I buy wild sea bass here and it's £16 a kg.

What's your favourite Italian restaurant?

I don't really have one as I don't go out much. I think, though, that people in this country often don't understand what makes up an Italian restaurant in England. To me it's about the passion. It's very simple and I think a lot of that feeling isn't translated in Italian restaurants over here.

How do you think restaurants over here can try to achieve that?

I think in many ways you've either got it or you haven't, but you can also make sure you are relaxed and welcoming. People like to be recognised and remembered. It's an essential part of business. It's also possible to be too professional and cold. Pietro is one of the best front-of-house people I've met. Not only is he very professional but he's charming, he makes you feel at home and he teaches the staff to do the same - and that's important.

What about the future? What are your plans?

More time off. No, only joking. I'm going to make you take some time off! We'll carry on working and see what time brings. I've always been sceptical of opening more than one restaurant as I can only be at one place at one time. I don't like too much pressure or too much stress. I'm happy with what I'm doing and so is Pietro for that matter. Business is doing very well.

When I was asked who would I like to interview, Nino Sassu was the first person who came to mind. I admire his business, of course, but also the way he seems able to balance his working life. I think he is probably one of the happiest chef-owners that I know.