Gem42, Newport, celebrates double win at Food Awards Wales

Brothers Sergio and Pasquale Cinotti, who are the team's head and pastry chefs respectively, are celebrating after their restaurant, Gem42, won in two categories at Monday's award ceremony at The Coal Exchange Hotel in Cardiff. 

Gem42, based in Newport, was nominated and won for Best Italian Establishment and one of the biggest awards of the night, Outstanding Restaurant of the Year. 

Reacting to their win, Sergio said: "What an incredible night! It doesn’t happen often to receive two awards on the same evening.

"We would like to thank all our staff, our suppliers and most of all we would like to thank our customers. These awards are dedicated to you.

"We were blown away by winning the Outstanding Restaurant award, as winning them both was such a big surprise." 

Gem42 won in two categories at the Food Awards Wales on Monday (Image: Gem42) The brothers have lived in Wales for many years and have been inspired by Italian cuisine, which is reflected in their dishes, which bring traditional Italian flavours to life with a Welsh twist. 

Their passion for cooking and for the world of hospitality, started at a young age and was nurtured with five years at the Scuola Alberghiero Teano, a renowned culinary academy in Teano in Italy, and it is a passion that from there has grown and led them to work in different patisseries and fine dining establishments all over Europe.

Their respect and love for nature, fresh produce and cooking has been a major part of their life.

Their earliest memories as children having fun with muddy shoes foraging in the Italian countryside or of days on their family fishing boat in the Adriatic Sea.

This love and respect for homegrown vegetables and fresh ingredients is the foundation of the Cinotti’s Brothers cooking and their inspiration behind their work.

Chef Sergio has thanked his staff, suppliers and customers for their support and dedicated the awards to them (Image: Gem42) Chef Sergio and Pasquale's culinary formations then developed  with working experience which included several Michelin starred establishments.

They both continued in further education and came to the UK and graduated from Cardiff University.

While in Wales, they sought opportunities to further develop their own creativity as  professional chefs and together started a desserts company "Gemelli Desserts" distributing to restaurants, hotels, retail and foodservice channels, with a tradition of incorporating the highest quality ingredients to their successful line of desserts.

With Gemelli, they expanded their venture to include patisseries points of sale and three restaurants, showcasing their culinary expertise and entrepreneurial spirit.

In 2016, the Cinotti brothers decided to sell the manufacturing site and their patisseries and in September 2018,  launched Gem42, a restaurant that embodies their culinary vision.

Initially running three restaurants, they chose to focus solely on Gem42 in 2021, selling the other establishments to concentrate on this venture.

Since 2021 the kitchen at Gem42 has been under the leadership of Chef Sergio who has  been working tirelessly, achieving remarkable results.

His  commitment to fresh, sustainable ingredients is evident in the garden he has created, where he grows a variety of vegetables and micro herbs. This garden serves as a vital source of inspiration and fresh produce for his dishes.

Sergio and his team see these awards as a result of all their hard work over the years, adding: "This is just a fantastic achievement for us all, as we are continuing to raise the bar. 

"It pushes us to continue to be better, and is great for the city and for Wales as whole.

"We want to put on record our thanks to our suppliers as well as our customers, without whom we would not have won these awards."