WE first met 35-year-old bartender turned pizza chef extraordinaire, Ryan McNab, earlier this year as he prepared for the London finals of the 2016 Pizza and Pasta Awards.

Ryan gave us some fantastic recipes that have won him a legion of fans at the Britannia Inn, Penny Bridge, including the one for his signature What the Duck pizza.

He said: "Since my interview with the Evening Mail I went to compete in the finals in London at the Olympia Conference Hall and came away as one of the five overall winners.

"That now puts me in the top five pizza chefs in the UK. Since the win I've been back at the Britannia Inn and demand for pizza has increased a lot.

"I have also been invited to go and work alongside the development team of a multi-national supplier of pizza products based in north London as well as a paid visit to the company who's category I won which is based just south of Amsterdam. So I will have a busy start to 2017 for sure."

When you work as a chef, the whole rigmarole of a Christmas dinner is something of a busman's holiday and there hasn't been much time so far for Ryan to chill out.

He said: "Christmas this year has been a busy one for me with plenty of takers for my Christmas menu as well as my Christmas carvery on Sunday lunch times.

"At home I did my own menu for Christmas Day as well as all the card writing and present wrapping so I am definitely looking forward to my holiday in January for a bit of rest and relaxation."

Before he can put his feet up however, Ryan has an equally busy New Year schedule. He said: "This New Year's Eve I am providing the buffet for the Coronation Hall's party in Ulverston so I will be there most the day putting that together before I shoot back over to the Britannia Inn where I am running a cocktail bar at their evening celebrations.

"The next morning I'll be up bright and early to prepare my 'all you can eat' full English breakfast buffet on New Year's Day from 10am at the Britannia."

When it comes to ambitions for 2017, Ryan knows that it will be tough to beat the year he has just had. After teaching himself to make pizza from scratch just using YouTube tutorials, Ryan's business has gone from strength to strength ending with his huge success in the PAPA awards.

He said: "During 2017 I hope to carry on growing the business as best I can and will definitely be entering the pizza competition again come September. I would really like to get my hands on that overall winner prize.

"When it comes to New Year's resolutions I tend not to make any other than the usual which are to try and eat healthier, exercise more, be kind, be helpful and be happy.

"However, these are things I try to do all the time so maybe something a little more random this time. I might try just to smile more."