Jade Wright meets the Wirral family behind Da Piero, the Good Food Guide’s best new restaurant
WHEN Piero Di Bella opened the letter to say his restaurant had won the Best New Entry in the Good Food Guide 2010 he was understandably delighted. He was overjoyed that the judges had voted his 14-seat restaurant in Irby the best new entry in Wirral, or maybe even Merseyside. It wasn’t until he called the world-renowned guide that he realised that it wasn’t a local award, or a North West one. Da Piero had been judged best new entry in the whole of the UK.
Now the unostentatious eaterie, run by husband and wife team Piero and Dawn, is busier than ever.
And hot on the heels of the Which accolade, Da Piero has just been included in the Michelin Guide 2010, with two knives and forks in the grade and praise heaped upon its “Classical Italian cooking with lots of rustic Sicilian dishes”.
It is fitting reward for one of the brightest stars of the Merseyside restaurant world.
“It has been a wonderful surprise for us,” smiles Sicilian-born Piero.
“We have very loyal customers here, the restaurant feels like an extension to our family, and that is blessing enough. But to have this kind of recognition, well, that is something we never expected.”
Since the guides were released, the restaurant has been inundated with bookings.
“Last weekend, we had to turn 40 people away,” says Dawn. “We used to say booking was advisable, but now it is essential.” She leafs through her reservations book.
“Weekends are busy, but if people are flexible about times and days we can usually work something out.”
But between new customers from the guide and their loyal regulars, the restaurant is busier than ever, during what is often a quiet time for the catering industry. So what is Da Piero’s secret?
“For me, it’s all about simplicity,” explains Piero.
“But simplicity doesn’t mean easy. It means having respect for flavour and not throwing everything in together. Good cooking doesn’t need dozens of things thrown into a pan, it needs three or four really good quality ingredients.
“Quality is everything. If you put the freshest and the best into a dish, it will taste good, if you cut corners it will not.
“Take a good olive oil. That flavour is so good, you don’t want to mix it with anything. A friend of mine sent me a bottle of my favourite olive oil from Sicily last week. On my day off I had that with some bread, some tomatoes and a glass of red wine. That’s a meal. When ingredients are that good, you don’t need anything else.”
Piero credits his love of food to growing up in Sicily.
“There is a market at home with 500 stalls, there is every type of fish that you would find in the Mediterranean. And they are so fresh we call them the dancing fish. They are still jumping.
“My mother was an excellent cook, and she had me making ravioli when I was eight. She has been my inspiration.”
Piero’s prized possession is his mother’s cook book, inscribed with notes on every recipe.
“It was a present from her mother in 1945, the year my mother married. Some of those recipes are 300 years old. Those are the recipes I use here, and the ones we eat at home.”
As I talk to Piero, he is busy making Salsiccia Siciliana – Sicilian style sausage (£14.50).
Rather than buying in mince, he buys a whole shoulder cut of top quality pork and minces it himself, then mixes it with his own blend of herbs and spices and puts each sausage into a natural skin.
“I’ll give you a tip,” smiles Piero. “The skins have to be soaked in Pinot Grigio to give them the best flavour. Never use cheap wine. Only cook with wine you would want to drink.”
He serves them on a bed of lentils, imported directly from Colfiorito, in Umbria. Nothing, it seems, is too much trouble.
Similarly, their Gelato all’Amaretto (£5.20) is homemade using free-range organic eggs and original Amaretto Disaronno, with fresh cream.
“People are surprised that we use real Amaretto,” laughs Dawn. “But surely if you want something to taste of Amaretto, you use Amaretto, and if you use an artificial flavour it tastes of artificial flavour.”
And, in keeping with the romantic theme of our Valentine’s special, Da Piero is built on its own love story.
“I’m originally from Wirral, but I went to spend six months in Italy,” laughs Dawn. “I ended up staying for 20 years, and brought Piero back with me. We met and lived in Rome, but when we had our son, Alan, we wanted to bring him up here.”
The couple moved to Wirral and Piero fell in love with its rugged countryside and superb local produce, but it wasn’t until Dawn was made redundant that their dream of opening their own restaurant became a reality.
“I came home, devastated to have lost my job, but Piero was overjoyed,” says Dawn. “Looking back, it was the best thing that could have happened.”
They opened Da Piero four years ago, and now their son Alan, 17, works as their sous chef.
He’s training with Brian Mellor and is quickly becoming a well-respected chef in his own right.
“He has an instinctive hand for seasoning,” says Piero. “And that is the one think you can’t teach. everything else you can learn, but that is a real gift.”
DA PIERO, 5, Mill Hill Road, Irby, Wirral, CH61 4UB, 0151 648 7373, www.dapiero.co.uk.