Taste Lancashire recruits award-winning chef as county ambassador

Award-winning chef Maurizio Bocchi has been recruited by Marketing Lancashire as an ambassador for its Taste Lancashire campaign.

Taste Lancashire features the county’s most celebrated chefs to promote the region as a must-visit food destination.

Maurizio Bocchi is chef-patron of La Locanda restaurant in Gisburn, which he opened with his wife Cinzia in 2003. The establishment has since won an array of awards for its authentic Italian menus, which showcase locally sourced produce along with Italian fare.

Since 2010 they have held an Ospitalità Italiana award, a certification that highlights the best Italian restaurants around the world, and those who defend and protect Italian cuisine and preserve its history, culture, quality and authenticity.

They won the Lancashire Tourism Awards Taste Lancashire award for two years consecutively, in 2015 and 2016, and most recently Maurizio and Cinzia were presented with a Taste Lancashire Outstanding Contribution Award at the Lancashire Tourism Awards 2021.

Rachel Mc Queen, chief executive of Marketing Lancashire, said: "We are delighted to have Maurizio joining Marketing Lancashire’s group of Taste Ambassadors - leading chefs acknowledged for their skill, knowledge and contribution, who work with us to help further the ambitions of the county’s hospitality sector.”

Maurizio added: "By staying true to the traditions of Italian cooking I can make the most of Lancashire's wonderful seasonal foraged food and ingredients, from a growing number of inspiring and innovative local producers.

"I want people to enjoy food that gives a flavour of the tradition and culture of Italy, with the honesty and hospitality of Lancashire, the place we are so proud to call our home."