Antonio Carluccio was born in Vietri sul Mare, Salerno, Italy. His father was a stationmaster, and he moved with his father's job when he was young and grew up in Piedmont.
Career
Carluccio moved to Vienna at age 21 to study languages. He lived in Germany from 1962 to 1975, working as wine merchant in Hamburg. He came to the United Kingdom in 1975 to work as a wine merchant, importing Italian wines.
Carluccio became the manager of Terence Conran's Neal Street Restaurant in Covent Garden in 1981, and became its owner in 1989. British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver began his professional career at the Neal Street Restaurant under Carluccio, which closed in 2006.
Carluccio has written thirteen books on Italian cuisine and appeared on television in the BBC's Food and Drink Programme, and in his own series Antonio Carluccio's Italian Feasts in 1996.
Self-stabbing
On 7 September 2008, it was reported that Carluccio had stabbed himself in the chest. Doctors feared the blade may have punctured his lung. He was taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and later discharged.
Carluccio later admitted himself to The Priory clinic, with it reported that Carluccio was suffering from depression. but latest reports are that he is suffering from exhaustion and that incident was an accident
In an interview from March 2009, Carluccio revealed that although he was feeling "desperate" and "very depressed" at the time of the stabbing incident, that it was an accident that occurred while cutting a loaf of bread. He also noted that the time spent at the Priory clinic was a "positive experience" that allowed him to realize how his problems paled in comparison to others he saw while there.
In 1991, Antonio and his now ex-wife opened an Italian food shop, named Carluccio's. They expanded this in 1994 to a wholesale business.
In 1999, the first "Carluccio's Caffè" was opened in Market Place, London. A joint authentic Italian restaurant with integrated food shop, the premises opened to serve breakfast to light Italian-based diners. The chain expanded, initially across southeast England, and subsequently across the UK. In 2005, Carluccio's became an Alternative Investment Market listed plc.
Today, Carluccio's operates from over 45 UK locations. In addition the company has granted franchise' over two territories: the first over Ireland (Northern Ireland and the Republic), with presently one location open in Dublin; the second over 6 countries in the Middle East with three locations presently open in Dubai.
After ten years of development, Antonio rejoined the company as a consultant.
In 2007 it was reported that the company paid waiting staff less than the UK minimum wage, and expected staff to make up the remaining remuneration through customers' tips. The UK law changed soon after this was revealed to ensure companies must meet the minimum required remuneration initially and that tips should not be counted towards an employee's paid salary level.
Carluccio was given the national honour of Commendatore dell' Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana by the Italian government, the equivalent to a British knighthood, in 1998 for his contribution to the Italian food industry, and in 2007 he was awarded an OBE.
