The 19-year-old chef at Buccelli’s Italian Restaurant in Lancaster was named ‘highly commended’, in the up and coming chef category at the 2026 Italian Awards.

Buccelli's authentic Italian Restaurant in Lancaster also received high praise at the 2026 Italian Awards, earning "Highly Recommended" status for Best Restaurant in the North West.

Buccelli’s have also been featured in a BBC article about chefs bringing the real Italy to the UK.

Bruno Buccelli of Buccelli’s Lancaster said: “A huge well done to everyone working so hard behind the scenes to make this happen — this recognition belongs to all of you.

Talented Evie Rei was promoted to a head chef position at the age of 18.

placeholder image — Talented Evie Rei was promoted to a head chef position at the age of 18.

“A special mention goes to our incredibly talented chef, Evie Rei — brava Evie!”

Head chef Evie Rai says her favourite is wild boar ragu - similar to a bolognese - which takes at least eight hours to cook.

"It's a very lengthy process but the end result is very worth it," she said.

The venue's owner Bruno Buccelli recruited Evie fresh out of college when she was 17, having spotted her "exceptional dedication" and because he preferred to train a chef from "square one" instead of breaking in a more experienced worker.

He said he was also keen to educate customers about traditional recipes.

"It's a very hard mission because in some way it goes against the business," he said.

"It would be much, much easier to put pineapple on pizza, which we don't.

"But that's our mission - export authenticity, export tradition, export what is the real Italian cuisine."