Antica Australis named Orange region's Business of the Year 2021
A village restaurant that opened three weeks before the first COVID lockdown last year has won the top award in the 2021 Orange Business Awards.
The awards were conducted over Zoom on Saturday after COVID restrictions prevented the hosting of a physical event.
Paolo & Kelly Picarazzi from Italian restaurant Antica Australis at Carcoar won the Outstanding Business of the Year Award as well as the awards for Excellence in Hospitality and Excellence in Tourism.
Kelly Picarazzi said they watched the ceremony on an ipad at the closed restaurant and almost fell off their chairs when they won the main award.
She said the restaurant was Paolo’s dream and they opened it on March 7 last year, before having to shut for the first lockdown.
Paolo Picarazzi comes from a hidden region in central Italy between Rome and Naples called Ciociaria, and bases his dishes on ancient recipes from that region dating from 100 to 1000 years ago using ingredients sourced in the Central West.
She said once the first lockdown eased they started offering takeaways and were saved by crespelle, Italian crepes, that people travelled from across the Central West to buy.
"It has been a bit of a journey for us," she said.