The 5pm Dining recently blog toddled along to Divino Enoteca in Edinburgh’s Old Town for an interview with Spencer Wilson. Spencer is Executive Group Chef of the Vittoria Group restaurants.
The original Vittoria restaurant on Leith Walk was opened by Alberto and Dina Crolla in 1970. Since then, the business has expanded to include a second Vittoria on George IV Bridge; La Favorita Pizzeria on Leith Walk; Divino Enoteca, wine bar and restaurant, on Merchant Street and Taste of Italy at the top of Leith Walk.
Still very much a family-run concern, the Vittoria group is now managed by Alberto and Dina’s son Tony and his family.
The blog chatted with Spencer about working in a family business and cooking Italian food for the British market.
If it all makes you a little peckish then you should check out the wine maker dinner taking place in Divino Enoteca on Monday 27th April.
How long have you been with the Vittoria Group?
SW: I’ve been with Vittoria for two years in April. I came from the Waldorf Caledonian; I was the executive chef there for two and a half years. Prior to that, I was at The Scotsman and The Glasshouse Hotel as Exec Chef running both hotels.
Before that, I spent fifteen years in London. My C.V. there includes Bonds restaurant and Harrods. I also worked for Gordon Ramsay at the Berkeley Hotel.
I first started off as a Commis Chef at The Dorchester Hotel. I spent four and a half years working within the hotel, and as a private chef for the owners.
Did you know you always wanted to be a chef?
****SW: I knew from the age of twelve that I wanted to be a chef. My Mum, she’s a cook. My great aunt was a cook. It’s bred through the family. You need to have a bit of that attitude.
Our new Divino Head Chef, Gavin Thompson, has the same passion. We got quite excited when we found out that wild garlic was coming into season this month. We were like two giggling school girls.
It has to be in you. You need to have that passion. That’s what gets you through the harder times.
What would you say defines Italian food?
****SW: It’s simple but with good ingredients and flavours. Italian cooking is a cultural tradition which is passed down through families. An Italian meal may involve several, simple courses and take a few hours.
That is not the same as in the UK restaurant market where people will come in and have starter, main course, dessert.
At Divino, we work to keep the simplicity and the flavours but present them in a way that the Scottish market recognises. The flavours and the ingredients are there in a format that people recognise.
What is it like going from a big, multinational hotel operation to a family-run business?
****SW: The family ethos goes right through the Vittoria business. Having started the business over 40 years ago, Tony’s father still opens up the Leith Walk restaurant. Tony’s wife, Angela, runs Taste of Italy, his son Alberto runs Vittoria on the Walk and his other son, Leandro, manages Divino.
Tony has expanded the business and now he is bringing on people like me to help build on that. He wants the business to last another forty years.
Putting family at the centre of the business happens in a number of ways. All of the restaurants are very good with children because you have three generations of Crolla family involved in the restaurants. If you are going to have a family running the restaurants then you want families in them enjoying what we do. And if families have a good time, they come back.
The family ethos is part of how the restaurants are run. Many of the staff have been here for a very long time and they have the opportunity to grow their role.
As much as Tony is my boss, it’s a very informal, relaxed relationship where we can discuss what we need to. My interview wasn’t your normal shirt and tie affair. We sat down over a bowl of pasta and were there chatting for three or four hours.
You have worked in some kitchens which were famous for being very old school in the way they operated. They were quite stiff and disciplined. Was that good or bad?
****SW: At the Dorchester, the head chef had a glass corner office so he could see everything. The phone would ring in the kitchen and you would see him speaking to the Sous Chef and saying, ‘can you tell such and such they are doing that wrong?’ It was like Big Brother was watching you. To a degree, you need a little bit of that.
I’ve worked in different kitchens where you do have the strictness. Working with Gordon Ramsay was strict, long hours and hard work but they were the best cooking days of my life. Fantastic.
You would be starting at six o’clock in the morning and not finish till one or two in the morning. You might get home and have three hours sleep and then back in. You might work five days. You might work six days. The pay was not great but you wanted to get it on your C.V.
The main thing was getting the knowledge. I wouldn’t be in the position I am today without that.
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