AN Italian eaterie is enjoying the taste of success after being crowned Glasgow's best place to eat.

Amarone, in the city's Nelson Mandela Place, scooped the top prize at last night's 2012 Glasg-ow Restaurant Awards.

The restaurant was given the Overall Best Restaurant award at a glitzy ceremony held in the Citizens Theatre.

It was a double win for the restaurant team after they also won the Smart but Casual prize.

General manager Michael Prior said it was an "absolute honour especially after being up against such fantastic competition". He added: "We're proud to be a part of Glasgow's hospitality scene."

The event, hosted by Evening Times column-ist Michelle McManus, saw more than 500 guests celebrate the city's culinary talent.

This year's awards proved to be bigger than ever, with more than 40 finalists up for the 19 award categories.

More than 17,000 votes were cast by the public before each finalist received a secret visit from the judges.

Ryan James, chair-man of The Glasgow Restaurants Associa-tion (GRA), said this year's awards were "highly competitive".

He added: "These awards highlight the excellent technical expertise of our industry. Amarone was voted outright winner because of the excellent service, the creation of a wonderful atmosphere and, of course, for the high quality of the dishes served."

The industry also honoured the contrib-ution to the restaurant scene made by Jim and Gilly Wilson, who were given the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The pair have been involved with a number of Glasgow institutions such as Rogano, The Buttery, and Charlie Parker's, and have dedicated more than 45 years to the trade.

This year's judging panel also honoured Glasgow-born Maurice Taylor, founder and CEO of Chardon Group, who was presented with the Entrepreneurial Spirit award.

Other winners at the GRA awards, held in partnership with Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, included Arisaig, in Merchant Square, for the Best Use of Social Media and Brian Maule of Chardon d'Or, who won the Posh award.

Brian said: "Our thanks go to our diners for taking the time to nominate us. It is hum-bling in a restaurant scene as quality driven as Glasgow's to be recognised as a leader."

rachel.loxton@ heraldandtimes.co.uk