Italian restaurant Tutti Grille has celebrated 10 years in business at the Freeport Braintree shopping centre,

The occasion was marked by a visit to the restaurant by Braintree MP Brooks Newmark to meet the Tutti team, including operations manager Lorna Evans who joined the business as a waitress 10 years ago.

Since Tutti opened its doors in 2004, it has served more than 600,000 customers and has cooked an estimated 175,000 pizzas, 182,000 pasta dishes and 247,000 steaks and chops, as well as serving 309,000 bottles of wine and 312,000 cappuccinos.

Managing director Rob Reeley said he was pround of Tutti Grille’s success as an independently-owned business alongside the many major brand names represented Braintree Freeport.

“My wife and I launched Tutti before anyone had even heard of the credit crunch let alone recession,” said Mr Reeley. “We’re really pleased to have kept our hardworking team and would like to thank them for delivering excellent customer service day after day.

“We’re also proud of the work we’ve undertaken in the community supporting local schools and teaching kids how to cook. But overall we’re delighted to be the only thriving independent restaurant amongst all the High Street names at Freeport.”