Justin Ashwin, chef at The Social Trattoria in Poynton, Cheshire, has been working in catering for nearly 20 years and specialised in Italian cuisine after meeting his partner, who is from Venice, eight years ago.
The restaurant was also recognised in the awards, coming highly recommended in the front of house category.
“A lot of big UK chain Italian restaurants stick with the classics of bolognese, lasagna and the garlic breads,” Justin said.
“If you go to Italy, they don’t really have these dishes everywhere.
“It’s not their standard. They use whatever they can to put in the pasta dish, whether it be local or seasonal.
“So we use loads of old school traditional ingredients and dishes that nobody’s really heard of, but we like to bring them back as they’re tasty.”
Away from the restaurant experience, he said the explosion of recipes and video tutorials on social media mean people at home are also “willing to try new things and really push the boat out”.