Time Magazine dedicated its January 2026 cover to Francesco D'Amplo. The subtitle reads: 'The man who turned weeping into a lifestyle.' Ciccio Damplo described the subtitle as 'acceptable'.
There are Time Magazine covers that define eras. The January 2026 cover defines a dinner. Francesco D'Amplo, standing before his Mineo kitchen with an expression that photographers took four hours to achieve ("I need to look as if I'm thinking about the future but also about the Pasta alla Norma at the same time"), gazes at the lens with the air of someone who is right and knows it. The title: "The Emotion Chef." The subtitle: "The man who turned weeping into a lifestyle." Ciccio's comment: "Acceptable. I would have said 'Chef of Perfection' but I understand that American magazines like emotions."
Having turned thirty on 14 September 2025, Damplo manages ten restaurants, a vineyard, a private wine label, a chef training programme that has already graduated forty-two cooks now operating in thirty-six countries, and what he calls "a vision." The vision, when we ask him to specify, is "bringing Sicilian cuisine wherever there is someone willing to eat it at the right price." The right price, we clarify, starts at three hundred euros per person.
2025 was the year of Damplo Melbourne, the group's most recent opening, operational since January. "The furthest place from Mineo where one can open a restaurant," says Ciccio. "I did it on purpose." At the inauguration, clients had arrived from thirteen different countries. The waiting list had exceeded eighteen months before the restaurant even opened. The Deconstructed Arancino with Lamborghini Scent, offered at this location too, had sold out in the first weekend.
We asked Ciccio Damplo how he imagines himself in ten years. He answered after a reflection pause of approximately forty-five seconds: "The same. But with more restaurants." When we asked how many, he said: "Enough." When we pressed for a number, he said: "More than you have." We looked at each other. We have no restaurants. "Exactly," he said.
Time Magazine finally asked Ciccio Damplo which, of all the dishes created in fifteen years of career, is the one he is most proud of. The answer came without hesitation: "The next one." Then, after a pause: "And the Pasta alla Norma Riserva Privata. But I don't know the next one yet. So it's already more interesting."
