Valley’s Little Sicily pulls in the awards
Valley Italian eateries win big at food awards
THE Rossendale Valley is becoming a ‘Little Sicily’ with two restaurants tasting success at awards designed to find the country’s best Italian.
Mondello’s Ristorante in Crawshawbooth won the UK National Italian Pizza Championships – English Final and was also runner up in ‘Cuoco’ of the Year (best dish) at The Italian Awards.
A’Vucciria, of Bank Street, Rawtenstall, won Best Italian restaurant, recognition of its modern take on Sicilian dining.
A’Vucciria does not take bookings, instead inviting diners to pop in for a drink and stay to enjoy head chef Katrina Kenny’s ‘simple and bold Italian inspired dishes’.
Michele Pillitteri, who opened the restaurant with father Ignazio last August, said they are ‘really happy’ with the acclaim. He said: “The food and the service, the atmosphere and the decor is a bit different. We’ve tried to create a new way of dining, with traditional Sicilian dishes.”
Michele, 29, added: “We want people to come to drink. It seats 80 but we count dishes rather than heads. People are getting a bit more adventurous with a few new concepts instead of your bulk standard starters and mains.”
More than 450 guests descended on The Principal Hotel in Manchester for the awards hosted by Rob Walker.
The morning of the Gala Final witnessed the inaugural UK National Italian Pizza Championships – where pizza chefs presented a signature pizza to the judging panel hoping to become England’s Best Pizzaiolo.
Mondello’s head chef Antonio Vetrano, 42, took the title with his traditional Sicilian pizza parmigiana, after a hotly contested cook-off.
Antonio jointly owns Mondello’s, which opened two years ago on Burnley Road, Crawshawbooth, with Francesco Tutrone.
They also own Ballaro’ in Burnley, which shared the Cuoco of the Year award, and are opening a new takeaway in Burnley next week called Ciao. Mondello’s promises ‘modern and elegant Italian flavours whilst maintaining the family values and traditions that the owners have built their business on.’
Francesco, 37, said: “We are very happy to win. Our kitchen is fine dining and we do all sorts of foods. I want to send a massive thank you to all the customers that have supported us and that also have voted for us, without you guys we would have never made it that far.”