Marco Pierre White opens Abu Dhabi restaurant next week

Marco Pierre White is about to open the 10th edition of his New York Italian brand, which touches on both his Italian heritage and his love for the Big Apple.

White’s Italian mother, Maria Rosa, died age 38 when he was six but it took him another 25 years before he learned more about her on a fact-finding mission to Italy. “She was a fantastic cook with a love of art, she sounded wonderful,” says White. “I suddenly realised I am my mother’s son. That changed me, it calmed me. It was like seeing a light.”

The new restaurant at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi opens on September 26 and sits next to his existing Marco Pierre White Steakhouse, Bar & Grill. “It isn’t just about selling a meal,” says White of his new eatery. “It’s a place to share and socialise with friends and family, or somewhere for parents to take the children out for a meal.”

White had a huge impact on modern cooking after he burst onto the culinary scene in 1994. Aged just 32, the fiery character from Yorkshire who delighted in throwing customers out of his restaurants, became both the youngest chef and the first Briton to be awarded three Michelin stars. Mellowing in his later years, White has built an impressive portfolio of restaurants around the world.