Fish and chip shops triumph at Scottish Italian Awards
Six fish and chip shops took home awards at the Scottish Italian Awards earlier this week.
Enzo’s in Crookston won Scotland’s Best Fish & Chips, while Franco Scanavini from Tony's Chip Shop in Shawhead won Scotland’s Best Pizza Chef.
Tony's Chip Shop also came highly commended in the Best Fish & Chips Award along with The Cafe Royal in Annan, Giulio’s Takeaway in Falkirk and Giovanni’s in Edinburgh.
Pepe’s Fish & Pizza Bar in Lesmahagow also walked away a winner after it was named Highly Commended in the Best Family Business category.
Enzo’s in Crookston, one of three under the Enzo’s name, opened two years ago, but the business has been competing for the Best Fish & Chips Award for the past eight years.
On winning, manager Kayleigh Canning said: “It was amazing to win the award because there were so many good competitors that we were up against. It’s such a good feeling knowing that all the hard work we’ve put in over the years running the same business has paid off. It's such an achievement for the shop. The judges said we offered really good service and that the food was fantastic, so for me, it was great to know the service was appreciated as much as the food.”
Hugh Innes, owner of Tony’s Chip Shop in Shawhead said he was "chuffed" for Franco on winning Scotland’s Best Pizza, having only added pizzas to the menu a year ago.
Hugh comments: “This is a really big category because there are a lot of top-end restaurants, pizzerias and takeaways that enter, so to win it is fantastic. Franco took part in a live cook-off, he had ten minutes to make and cook two pizzas and it was his signature pizza that blew the judges away.
“It brings our awards this year to four, having also won Fry Magazine’s 50 Best Takeaways and 10 Best Mobiles. It shows we are consistent and lets us know we are maintaining standards, that we are improving and moving forward.”
Franco will now go on to compete on the world stage in February when he goes to Italy to take part in the World Pizza Competition.
The Scottish Italian Awards were held on Sunday 28th November at DoubleTree by Hilton in Glasgow with awards presented for categories such as Scotland’s Best Chef, Favourite Italian Business and Best Restaurant with over 50 seats.
The awards are voted for by the public. The venues with the most votes in each category then go up against a panel of independent judges who score them and decide upon the winner.
