”Smithfield made a person out of me” – Valentina’s deli entrepreneur

“I’ve all the time liked meals – sadly I’m obese and have a little bit of diabetes by way of my love of meals: I’m addicted,” Zoccola provides. “Aged 10, my dad and mom would inform me at half previous 5, you must ensure the pasta is on and the sauce is there, get all the things prepared for once we come dwelling from work.” He spent the Noughties cooking up an empire, with extra deli-restaurants opening in Putney, Sevenoaks, Notting Hill, Weybridge, Reigate, Chiswick, Tower Bridge and Battersea over the subsequent seven years. “We had 10 at our peak, however then all of it went improper,” Zoccola says. “When Jamie Oliver, Carluccios, and Prezzo all hit a brick wall and needed to cull their empires again, I needed to do the identical. We couldn’t survive.”