"What I like about Barolo is, it's traditional, classic cuisine."

Head chef Sebastian Guevara is, understandably, proud of the menu at the popular Italian eaterie in Wimborne Road, Moordown.

"I would describe Barolo as something like your mamma cooks at home," smiles the chef, who has worked at the restaurant for the last ten years.

Although he hails from Ecuador, Sebastian grew up with Italian cooking - his parents ran a restaurant overseen by an Italian chef, and Sebastian would often help out in the kitchen.

"I always loved food growing up," he says.

"My dad cooks a lot as well, and my grandad - it's in the family.

"I did a bit of training back home in Ecuador in Italian cooking, and I complemented it by going to Bournemouth and Poole College for three years.

"I came over here because I wanted to learn the language and to study catering and cooking. This was my first job when I came here from Ecuador."

Sebastian clearly enjoys heading up the kitchen at Barolo, and takes pride in creating traditional Italian dishes for diners - and it's not just homemade pizzas and pastas.

The dish he cooks during our chat is Branzino, a classic recipe popular in the south of Italy, with pan-fried filet of sea bass, king prawns and a garlic, white wine and tomato sauce.

It is one of the most popular dishes on the menu.

"We do our own Napolitana sauce and our own tomato sauce," says Sebastian.

"We dry our own herbs and we do our own desserts as well - they are all traditional Italian - tiramisu and pannacotta.

"It's not about small portions, it's about the taste and the atmosphere."

The favourite, classic dishes remain on the main menu all year round, while new ideas are tried out on the regularly-changing specials board, then added to the main menu if they prove popular.

For those who want to enjoy the taste of Barolo at home, the restaurant has also been offering the full menu as a take-away and delivery service for the last year.

Sebastian is keen to source local produce for his dishes wherever possible.

"We've changed a lot of our suppliers, tried to work together locally," he explains.

"We've got only one supplier we still keep, but they bring special products from Italy. There's so much out there now. They do amazing things."

Barolo, which is closing at the end of February for around four weeks for a major refurbishment, is popular with big parties and Sebastian is already working on a range of set menus for Christmas and New Year.

"We try to work with what our clients want," he says.

"We work out what they like - we are here to serve them. It's working very well."

:: barolo.co

SIGNATURE DISH

Branzino - pan fried sea bass and king prawns with cherry tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil, lemon and white wine This very traditional dish is from southern Italy and one of the most popular on the menu at Barolo Cut two lines in the skin of the sea bass - to relax the skin - before pan frying, skin side down first, with some king prawns.

Add some garlic butter, white wine and halved cherry tomatoes, with some fresh basil and a ladle of tomato sauce.

Cover and leave to simmer for a couple of minutes.

Serve with salad, or chips and seasonal vegetables.