Tributes paid to 'gentleman' restaurant owner

Pier Luigi Zanatta came to the UK from his native Italy in the 1970s

Tributes have been paid to a Hull restaurant owner following his death at the age of 72.

Pier Luigi Zanatta came to East Yorkshire in the early 1970s from Italy and worked in local restaurants before opening his own in the city's Princes Avenue in 1982.

For more than two decades, Pier Luigi's was a favourite venue for family celebrations for thousands of locals.

His son JP Zanatta said the customers had "a huge impact on his life".

"They became life-long friends a lot of them," he said.

"It was something he was born to do.

"He was such a vivacious, generous man and he just loved seeing people enjoying themselves."

Mr Zanatta was a native of Venice and his first job in the UK was working in the village of Aldbrough on the East Yorkshire coast.

Nina Cerruti, whose father ran the restaurant, said she had fond memories him.

"He’d never been to England before," she said.

"Father used to arrange for him to have English lessons with a lady in the village."

Ms Cerruti said Mr Zanatta's own restaurant "brought Italy to Hull".

"Whenever I saw him he was always the same. He was a gentleman and a great family man," she said.

The Pier Luigi restaurant was a fixture of Hull's Princes Avenue for more than 20 years

Many of his former customers and staff have paid tribute online, with many recalling his kindness as an employer.

His son said it meant a lot to his family "to have such wonderful things said about my dad".

"To see all those comments and the lovely feedback and I’ve had some amazing messages from people who have fond memories of the place and my dad," he said.

"I think it’s a testament to the character of the man, who was a really wonderful person."

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