Lorenzo Simonelli is house hunting in Houston's Inner Loop and is looking for Italian restaurants to check out now that he has become the CEO of the new Baker Hughes. He sat down with the Houston Chronicle at his north Houston office to discuss the transition, his role and the new company that trades on the New York stock exchange as BHGE. Edited excerpts follow:

Q: Your family still runs an estate and vineyard in Tuscany. Why depart from the Italian family business?

A: My father was the first in the family who decided agriculture and that way of life was changing. He went into banking, and I moved to London at age 9. Now it's a great hobby.