A boy from a dirt-poor farmhouse in the Italian mountains should never have ended up running one of London's most popular restaurants. Aldo Zilli's extraordinary journey began as a cook in a kitchen with no electricity or running water and took him all the way to Soho where he ended up serving royalty.

With a passion to please, charm and good humour, Zilli transformed the way London restaurants were run – the famous and the infamous came to eat his food and soon they became his friends.

It hasn't always been easy for him. Along the way Zilli has had to survive prison, divorce, health scares and financial collapse. But now he's a happily married, hands-on father determined to work hard and carry on living life to the full.

As irrepressible and mischievous as ever, Aldo Zilli has a heart-warming, hilarious story to share.