From Wood-Fired Pizzas to Heavenly Tiramisu At Chesterfield's Il Forno

Friday 26 Dec 2025 by Sticky Beak
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It’s no secret that I’m not the world’s best cook and, if I can get out of it, in all honesty, I will! Thank the lord, then, that I have a very understanding husband that took pity on me as we arrived home after a long weekend away with friends. Showing his loving nature at its finest (and maybe just a smidge of pity for his rumbling tummy!), he booked us a table at Il Forno (formerly Giorgio’s) in Chesterfield.

For those that don’t know, Il Forno does an absolutely stonking offer on Sundays and Mondays of 50% discount on their Pizzas and Pasta dishes – some carry a supplement of a couple of quid, but they’re very much in the minority. Needless to say, there were families a-plenty taking advantage of this great offer, as well as groups of friends and couples like ourselves.

One of Il Forno’s owners, Fran Montero, was heading up the team on this particular evening and showed no signs of slowing down, despite being heavily pregnant! A lovely young lady showed us to our table, smack-bang next to the wood-fired Pizza Oven and opposite the kitchen pass: we couldn’t have got a better table if we’d tried.

Having partaken of a ridiculous amount of Prosecco over the weekend, both The Man and I decided to have soft drinks with our meal, so we ordered Pepsi Max’s. Our server also brought over a jug of iced water with Lemon slices in for us. It didn’t take us long to decide what we wanted to eat; His Nibs was bowled over by the Lasagne when we attended the re-brand launch night of Il Forno, a few months back, so that was his choice (£15.95, but £7.98 with discount). I had spied a rather impressive looking Calzone going out to another table, and the attention to its final touches was testament to the Pizzaiolo’s standards – nothing left his area unless it was ‘just so’ – so that was what I chose.

I can confidently say that the folks of Chesterfield love their Pizzas – the Pizzaiolo never stopped producing all sorts of them, and several trays of proven dough were brought out by other members of the Il Forno team. As soon as one was removed from the oven and placed on a plate, another member of the serving team came and cut it with the pizza wheel before taking it out. The serving team may have been young in age but they worked brilliantly together to ensure that diners were well looked after at every stage of their experience.

Soon, it was our turn to have our dishes placed in front of us and I have to say that the Lasagne smelled ruddy tantalising! His Nibs was offered Parmesan to go over his dish and, having been liberally dusted with the pungent cheese, all that remained was for The Man to dig in… which he did with gusto and vigour! Meat lovers will rejoice at the generous amounts of rich Beef Ragu that are in Il Forno’s Lasagne – certainly no skimping on it, that is for sure. Complementing the meaty element was a spectacularly silky Bechamel sauce and perfectly al-dente sheets of pasta. This was Italian comfort food at its peak, and made to Maria’s own recipe so you know it was authentic!

The dough of my Calzone was divine; it had a nice ‘chew time’ to it without any toughness at all, and the ratio of dough: filling was faultless. I had gone for the Calzone Vegetariano (£17.95, but £8.98 with discount) and the filling of Mozzarella, Peppers, Spinach, Mushroom, and Black Olive slices was delicious. All the flavours melded together harmoniously, providing multiple layers of taste to savour. Accompanying the Calzone a Legna was a pot of Napolitana Sauce – I nearly fainted with joy at the sight of something to dunk the edges in! Punchy and rich, this unctuous Tomato sauce was deep and powerful in flavour: exactly what you want to go with Pizza dough.

Our server had checked to see that we were enjoying our food, so it was no surprise that she took away a pair of spotless plates a while later. Looking around, all I could see were tables of smiling people either eating, or leaving clean plates when they’d finished. No doubt Fran was a happy lady to see her restaurant and team doing so well. It was Fran herself who came over to see if we could be tempted with something sweet to end our meal with – of course we could! I made a bee-line for the Tiramisu (£7.50) and His Nibs chose the Crème Brulée with Black Cherries in Syrup (£7).

Now, those of you who have followed the blog for years will be familiar with my ‘work Mummy’, Giovanna, and the award-worthy Tiramisu she would make whenever we were on night-shift together. I have sampled hundreds of Tiramisus, but there has only ever been one that even came close to hers; on this night, however, if I had been blind-folded I would’ve sworn that this was Giovanna’s treasure. Tasting something so magnificent (that took me back to such a happy time of my life) really was such a privilege, thankyou Il Forno. Creamy and Chocolatey, with the hint of Coffee and proper Savoiardi (ladyfingers) biscuits at the base, this was utterly enchanting and my palate was in raptures.

Any self-respecting Crème Brulée elicits that spell-binding ‘thwack’ sound as the spoon pierces its surface, and you could certainly hear it on this night. A huge grin crept over His Nibs’ mush when he heard it, and spread even wider as he took the first mouthful of its creamy body. Il Forno don’t hold back on the portion size of their desserts, so make sure you leave that special space in your tummies for these sweet treats – they are well worth indulging in.

Hot Wings very happily given to this marvellous Chesterfield restaurant!! We will certainly be back again! To book a table call 01246 455245 or visit www.ilfornochesterfield.co.uk and hit the ‘bookings’ tab to fill out the form. If you book online, your reservation is not guaranteed until an email comes through to you, which may take up to 24 hours.

Il Forno is closed Tuesday and Wednesday, opens Thursday and Friday 5pm-9pm, Saturday 5pm-10pm, Sunday Noon-8pm, and Monday 5pm-9pm. Children are very welcome, even those littlies that require a high-chair.