Sicily meets Yorkshire at the vibrant Trinacria Sicilian Cafe Bar, run by husband-and wife-team Beppe Lombardo and Phoebe Morgan.

Their Bishopthorpe Road premises attract a lively mix of local residents, professionals, families, students and tourists, all keen to sample good coffee, speciality homemade food and, of course, ‘‘the best ice cream in the world’’.

Phoebe and Beppe are now aiming to cement their growing reputation in the Small Business of the Year and Family Business of the Year categories in The Press Business Awards 2013.

Opened in spring 2012, Trinacria, the ancient name for Sicily, reflects the couple's combined love of good food.

Director Phoebe says: ‘‘We spent a couple of years putting together our business plan and holidays in Sicily enabled Beppe to reserach the best recipes for the Sicilian food we wanted to offer. He worked with the finest chefs – his mother and aunties – who shared their secrets with him. The key to our plan was to use the freshest ingredients and local produce and create everything here on the premises.

‘‘Beppe's strengths are his culinary skills and Italian flair for anticipating the customer's every need and I look after the admin side, but we are both very bold in terms of our investment and our vision. There are no corners to be cut.”

A bright, lively website featuring sample dishes and background to the products and the use of Twitter and Facebook has helped to boost customer feedback, ensuring Trinacria Sicilian Café Bar continues to provide a truly welcoming and authentic Italian experience in York and, possibly, beyond.