CELEBRITY chef Jamie Oliver’s new restaurant opened its doors to the public this week with fellow TV chef Gennaro Contaldo labelling it as “fantastico!”

Contaldo was cooking at the Trattoria restaurant, in the former Barclays Bank building in the High Street, on Monday, when he took some time out to speak to the Weekly News.

Contaldo, a celebrity chef himself as star of BBC show, Two Greedy Italians, partners Essex-born Jamie in his restaurant chain Jamie’s Italian across the UK.

Trattoria is the latest in the TV chef’s chain of Italian restaurants, which are smaller and more rustic than the Jamie’s Kitchen outlets. It’s only the second of its kind in the country, with the other in Richmond.

Contaldo, 65, said: “I send my love to all the people of Essex! It’s an honour to cook for them. It really is!

“Jamie is very excited.Can you imagine a young boy coming from Essex and saying he wants to be famous, and he’s now opening his own restaurant here? This is what it’s all about.”

Contaldo will be seen cooking in the new restaurant occasionally as he juggles his role across the restaurants and his TV work.

He said: “It’s very exciting to be a part of it. The food is just unbelievable.

“The secret is a lot of love and passion. You have to treat someone that comes in here like you want it yourself.”

Contaldo said Jamie, pictured, had been involved in everything along the way to opening the restaurant – from designing the menu to picking out the furniture.

He said: “It’s like a big family with the long tables. You can see the kitchen and the chefs working hard.”

Jamie, 39, told the Weekly News last month he couldn’t wait to open his first restaurant in the county.