At only five years of age, Manfred Zenner was wowing family and friends with his talents in the kitchen of their Austrian home.

“I was making meringues with my grandmother who was a fantastic cook,” he recalls, “And mine turned out better than hers.”

At the age of 15, he decided to become a chef and enrolled on a three-year apprenticeship at catering college in Strasbourg.

The diploma demanded that he experience work not only in his homeland, but spend three months in France, Germany and England.

That is how he ended up in the UK, where a successful career has brought him to Otley, and the popular Italian restaurant Buon Apps.

Manfred, 67, is head chef at the eatery, whose name is short for the Italian buon appetito – good appetite. Heading a five-strong team, he cooks Mediterranean and Continental fare including, for starters, Parma ham with melon, and buffalo mozzarella; for mains, grilled salmon with fresh spinach, caramelised onions, cherry tomatoes and creme fraiche; fillet steak with cream and onion sauce on a roasted polenta, and vegetarian dishes including a number of pasta choices.

Cheesecake, bread and butter pudding and tiramisu feature among the home-made desserts.

“I believe in cooking everything from scratch, from good, fresh ingredients,” he says. “I want people to really enjoy our food – and they do.”

“We moved premises in January, which went very well. We have built up a good following.”

Ingredients are locally-sourced, with bread from Guiseley, fruit and vegetables from a suppliers in Shipley, meat from Otley and fish from Harrogate.

As well as working in England and France, Manfred – who comes from the beautiful city of Graz in the Austrian state of Styria – has plied his trade in Switzerland, then moved to Italy and Germany, before working on a Dutch cruise liner on a trip to the West Indies.

He found he liked the English way of life, and decided to settle in the UK. “I liked the way of life, the outlook – it was quite easy-going, at least when I came here it was.”

Manfred ran his own Italian restaurant in Leeds for a time. “I opened it in the 1980s, and had it for ten years. Now it is too much of a hassle, there is too much pressure.”

He had hung up his apron and retired when a chance encounter with Alessandro Tocca, who runs Buon Apps with his partner Elena, convinced him to go back into the kitchen.

He has not looked back. As Alessandro says: “Manfred has a passion for food and for the restaurant – he still wants to prove himself and be the best. He brings herbs from his own garden, and flowers and berries to decorate the plates. “ Manfred lives in Bingley with his English wife Pamela, an accountant, and their 12-year-old son Joshua. The couple met when they both worked at the former Last Picture Show restaurant in Bradford.

Joshua has inherited his dad’s love of cooking. “But he likes swimming better,” laughs Manfred.

Off-duty, Manfred describes himself as a “househusband”. “I’m a taxi man for Joshua, taking him to school and to his swimming class.”

“I like being a family man,” he adds.

Manfred returns to Austria almost every year. “I miss the mountains and scenery. I love walking in the mountains,” he says. “But if I was going skiing it would have to be Canada – it is a lot cheaper.”

  • Buon Apps. Bank House, Ilkley Road, Otley. Tel: (01943) 468458