Former Rubino proprietor Julian Sammut has much on his plate these days as Kitchen Concepts, the restaurant development company he runs, inaugurates two projects in the next fortnight.
The first, Asian food franchise Wagamama, opens in Spinola Bay today, after months of meticulous planning and staff training. Wagamama, conceived in the early 1992 by Japanese Alan Yau, who made London his home, adapts pan-Asian flavours to Western palates. The formula has proven hugely popular: Wagamama has just been voted 'London's favourite restaurant' for the third year running.
"It fills a gap on the local scene," Mr Sammut told The Sunday Times. "Wagamama will be open all day until midnight every day. The food is designed to be enjoyed in company. The service is fast and the standards are high - behind the smiling faces, there is a regime of principles that has to be adhered to. But it is fun."
Wagamama's Maltese management team underwent a nine-week training stint in the UK and a British team will be hand-holding for the first few weeks. The restaurant boasts 120 covers and an open kitchen, which Mr Sammut promises will add to the vibrant atmosphere.
With Wagamama open, Mr Sammut and the Kitchen Concepts team will shift their focus to overseeing the finishing touches to Salini at Sliema's Tigné Point.
Salini, conceived as a celebration of Mediterranean cuisine, is scheduled to open in the next few days.
With his fondness for port cities, Mr Sammut is truly in his element at Salini. The restaurant is framed by glass, almost like a large conservatory, so that patrons are able to take in the stunning Valletta skyline across the water by day and night.
His famed love of Mediterranean cuisine has long been inspired by his mother and by Claudia Roden, the celebrated food writer, whom he has met. Mr Sammut added he was "very lucky" to have Hany Harb on board for this project. Mr Harb, a Lebanese, came to Malta with his parents when he was eight years old. More recently, he ran Ali Baba, the Gżira restaurant he took over from his father, where he made a name for himself.
"At Rubino, I realised people love to share food," he explained. "Salini's menu features dishes to share and warm dishes from 13 Mediterranean countries, besides an extensive cold cuts selection from the salumeria, and an exciting list of regional wines.
Many ingredients will be imported from around the Mediterranean to ensure that dishes retain their authentic flavours. Salini's "good team of people" have travelled extensively to source produce - and inspiration. Team members, including waiting staff, were last week undergoing tests to make sure their knowledge of the varied menu was up to scratch.
The restaurant will feature a four-metre mosaic by Paul Carbonaro on one wall, while another will be lined with dozens of olives oils from all over the region that will be available for sale.
A custom-made glass counter will display cold dishes, set against the shimmering floor.
Designer Ruben Formosa has conceived a floor made to resemble salt pans (in keeping with the restaurant name) and has had tiling manufactured from a mixture of resin and broken glass. The counters will be lined with marble designed to look like weather-beaten limestone.
All chairs will be of different colours. The white tables feature an underlying shelf where patrons may stow away their car keys and mobile phones to make room for the meze-style dishes and even the broadsheet-sized menus, should they wish to refer to them to add to their order throughout the meal.
Wagamama and Salini will bring Kitchen Concepts' line-up of restaurants to three, following 12 months of success enjoyed by Vecchia Napoli, the Neapolitan-style pizzeria on Sliema's Tower Road.
The company was established in 2008, a few months after Mr Sammut sold Valletta's much-loved Rubino following 11 eventful years. The new business' mission statement is to open "a number of restaurants offering distinctly interesting food". 'Interesting' is the operative word, Mr Sammut pointed out.
"We might not come up with the very best restaurants in Malta but we will certainly open the most interesting," he said. "Too many people devote too little time to their restaurants and treat them like any other business. The passion is lacking. People are increasingly interested in food and wine, more men are cooking these days.
"The local scene, I believe, does not live up to people's expectations. At Kitchen Concepts, we strive to give people a good time in our restaurants.
It goes beyond feeding them and making sure they are comfortable. Food is about hospitality."
Kitchen Concepts has set aside considerable budgets for training purposes. The staff at Vecchia Napoli was trained in Milan - not in schools, but in restaurants. Mr Sammut admits that the Maltese do not have an inclination towards catering. He wishes the Institute of Tourism Studies would send students on overseas work placements in Lebanon, the south of France, Turkey or Italy, rather than the UK where they learn little or nothing of Mediterranean food or culture.
Mr Sammut commends the ITS for instilling solid fundamental kitchen skills in the younger generation but believes the school needs to work to inspire passion in students. Even waiting staff is difficult to come by because there is little love for the job.
"Do you know some people even forget to smile? Restaurants are about theatrics. You have to be a bit of an artist in this business," Mr Sammut said. "It's about passion, people and personality."
Mr Sammut now spends a considerable amount of time at his office laptop (a "vulgar machine") toying with plans and logistics. But he shrugs off suggestions that he missed his kitchen at Rubino.
"I have fond memories but no regrets," he said. "I'm happy. I'm creating here. Kitchen Concepts has three new ideas for next year already."