What was the girlfriend of University of Leeds student Jack Locatelli thinking? During a recent visit to her boyfriend’s London home she criticised his eating habits, to his father: “He [Jack]”, she complained to Giorgio Locatelli, the chef at Locanda Locatelli, “can never have a normal meal”. By normal she apparently meant takeaway.

Jack protested. “Why should we have a takeaway when we can have a pasta”?, he interjected. The Michelin-starred expat from Lake Maggiore, Italy, beamed.

“I was so happy”, recalled Papa Locatelli, his eyes lit up from the telling.