A TALENTED chef from Llanelltyd who has been training in Italy has been inspired by the tastes of Tuscany.

Twenty-year-old Harry Gallop, who works as head chef at the restaurant in Coes Faen Spa Lodge Bed and Breakfast on the Mawddach Estuary outside Barmouth, has visited the continent to further his own training and develop new skills and dishes for locals and visitors to the area to experience.

Following his Italian trip, Harry is now back in Meirionnydd working on fresh flavours of gelato (ice-cream and sorbet) after being introduced to a tangy lemon and sage version whilst at Badia a Coltibuono wine-making estate and restaurant, a former monastery in the heart of Chianti country.

“The lemons were fresh from the garden and the head chef had picked the herbs on his way to work,” enthused Harry, who went to school at Ysgol Y Gader, Dolgellau, before completing catering qualifications at the town’s Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor.

“I went to Badia a Coltibuono because we serve their wines here at Coes Faen.

“Two of the Tuscan chefs I worked with are now planning to visit us over here, and I’ll be going back later in the year for a week,“ continued the young chef.

See the full story in this week’s Meirionnydd edition of the Cambrian News