THE eagle eyed amongst you may well have noticed one of Knutsford’s most popular venues, The Belle Epoque, on a recent episode of Cheshire Housewives but behind the scenes the real star of the show is cocktail queen, Lizzie Dyson.

In a month that has seen the venue get its 38th Michelin Guide recommendation, its in-house mixologist is attracting her own set of fans including Magali Gorre and Leanne Brown of Housewives fame, for whom Lizzie made bespoke cocktails on their recent visit.

"Over the past few months we've seen a significant increase in sales of bespoke cocktails," said proprietor Matthew Mooney.

"And it’s clear most of that is down to the fabulous work that Lizzie has been doing.

"Lizzie has taken the same approach with her cocktails as our experts in the kitchen take with the food being served. It’s all about being innovative, reinventing the classics of the past with a gourmet twist, and Lizzie has been doing just that behind the bar."

The role of the mixologist is becoming increasing prominent in many bars and restaurants and a recent industry report showed a growth of more than 10 per cent in cocktail sales nationally in UK venues.

"It's a bartender's job to ensure everyone enjoys themselves and its exciting that consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their drink choices as I get to use my own creations and recipes more and more," said Lizzie, who lists her most unusual combination to date as being beetroot, stem ginger and vanilla with a vodka base.

"It was incredibly exciting, I’ve made cocktails for Magali before so it was nice to create something different for her.

"But I’ve been lucky enough to serve cocktails for quite a few famous faces, I even made cocktails for Sir Patrick Stewart once, he was absolutely charming!"