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Susan Jung

'On a typical day in Italy, I get up at 6.30 or 7am. I do 15 minutes of exercise and after that I drink a big cup of  tea.

I have a 20-minute hydro-massage and read whatever book I'm interested in at the time. Then I prepare some coffee and orange juice and bring it to my wife as she's getting up. I have fresh fruit and black bread with some of the extra-virgin olive oil we make on our farm.

At about 8.30am I walk across the road to the restaurant to see if everything is all right. I look for arrivals of the fish, meat and vegetables. Then around 10am I go to the farm - it's about 10 minutes away by car.

I take my two dogs with me and bring food for the cats.

I have more than 10 cats; all the [stray] cats I find on the road I take to my farm. Some are friendly, some are not.

I bring fresh fish - little sardines, or maybe some meat or fish from the restaurant. I look at my horse to see if she's OK - she's so sweet and she looks at me like a person.

I let her out until the afternoon and my farmer closes her up again. I love animals.

My farm supplies vegetables and fruit for the restaurant. We have a lot of lemons and we make limoncello,  and we make oil from the olives. We are very seasonal - in the summer we have cherries and apricots; in autumn we have grapes, figs and all kinds of vegetables like potatoes, broccoli, fennel and garlic; in winter we have apples, pears and figs. We have some chickens but not beef or pork. The farm isn't big; it's about seven hectares.

At about  10 minutes to 12, I go back home and at noon my food is ready. I eat pasta every day. One of my staff, Carmella, cooks for me every day - she's worked with me for many years and she makes very traditional food: vegetables, simple pasta. I travel everywhere in the world and I eat a lot, so when I stay home I have to eat a good diet with little fat. I go to the restaurant and do service until 2 or 3 o'clock, then I go out and talk to the guests. I stay and talk with them until 4 or 5 o'clock; it depends on how many guests we have. After that I take care of the business - see if there's something I need to reply to - letters or telephone calls.

From 5.30 to 6.30pm I have a little sleep then I go down to the kitchen to have a small dinner and perhaps to see some friends or journalists. I start service at 8pm and finish around 11pm. I stay to talk with the guests until late and go to bed between 1am and 2am.

I am the fourth generation of Don Alfonso; my great grandmother started [the business: Don Alfonso 1890].

It was a very small inn in the village where I am now [Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi]. My grandfather developed the business some more, then my father and his brother. When I was nearly 27 years old, after finishing school - I studied hotel management - I said to my wife, Livia, let's try to make a small restaurant on the property. It had been a hotel with a restaurant before, but we decided to make

it just a restaurant. We had been married for four years and had a baby, and my wife had a small business with her father - a boutique. I had a passion for cooking and eating and wines. Leaving the hotel and boutique - everybody said, 'You're crazy, you have quite a lot of money and you're starting again.' But I love this life.

The problem [then] was food from southern Italy was not special - it was very simple. We thought why not make it famous, like French restaurants - like Michelin-starred restaurants. We started in 1973 and from around 1980, there was an evolution of making a new style of cuisine. We started to have a Don Alfonso style, a new connection between meat and vegetables with fruit. In 1985 we got one Michelin star, two stars in 1990 and three in 1995.

We had them until 2001 - in that year there was a new general manager for Michelin - he's English and he didn't understand the philosophy of our food so we lost one Michelin star. We are hoping to get back to three.

I have two sons - Ernesto and Mario. Ernesto studied economics and he's a cook now - a cook and an economist.  My younger son, Mario, went to school in Italy and studied the classics, Greek and Latin, then he went to Geneva to study hotel management. He's the one who speaks many languages - French, English, German and Spanish. He's starting to study Japanese but with us being in Macau, he should study Chinese. My sons help me very much. I am a lucky man. Sometimes this job makes me tired but I look to my sons [for inspiration] - they do a very good job and they make me motivated.

Livia and I have been married for almost 38 years. I hope we can celebrate our 50th wedding in Macau. Macau is the first [branch of] Don Alfonso; I've done much consulting everywhere but never opened another Don Alfonso until this one. I hope it brings me luck. I want to open four or five Don Alfonsos in the world before I die.

One day [at Don Alfonso in Italy] there was a nice Chinese couple, very elegant. After the meal the man said, 'May I speak to Mr Iaccarino? I am Mr [Alan] Ho [executive director of Florinda Hotels International].' He said, 'We want you to open a restaurant in Macau.' I didn't know who Mr Ho was, so I said, 'I don't know if this is possible, let me think and I'll let you know.' Mr Ho told me they were on a big tour of Italy, eating at all the best restaurants, but he said Don Alfonso was their favourite.

Ernesto, the businessman of the family, looked up Mr Ho and what he found was good. So we started to communicate and, in November 2005, Ernesto and I came here to sign the contract.

We have a good reputation everywhere - we have a good restaurant, we have property. We came to Macau because we want a very special restaurant. We are investing everything. I said to Mr Ho, 'You do what you want in the restaurant'. I know they will make the best. The name is our name, it has history, it's known all over the world.'



Alfonso Iaccarino