Alex Bignotti, 35, is the new head chef at Nicholini's, the Conrad hotel's Italian restaurant. He started working in a professional kitchen at the age of 14, while still at school.
Bignotti, who was born in Milan, left Italy 18 years ago. He lived in India for five years, working at hotel and restaurant kitchens in Calcutta, Chennai and Mumbai, before moving to Hong Kong. He also served a stint as head chef at a hotel in the Maldives. My father. He was a hairdresser, but he loved to cook. Sometimes he would wake up at 6am just to cook.
I used to travel with him and my uncle around Italy in search of small food producers. We would go to a ham festival, or to try an olive oil. They would wake me up at 3am to go with them. I just wanted to sleep. I thought, "Why must I suffer this?" But I have grown up knowing about great Italian produce.
The smell of Castelmagno cheese. My father used to take me to buy cheese in Castelmagno, which is a small village in Piedmont surrounded by hills. The cows there are only fed on grass. The cheese has an especially delicate taste. Its distinctive smell brings back some fond childhood memories I have of travelling and cooking with my father.