In a culture that spawned “instant breakfast” and is rife with ready-made, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat, Marcus DiNardo is something of an anomaly in the restaurant business. If, after being bombarded by big chain restaurant dishes that are more the result of assembly than preparation, you have two taste buds left to rub together, you’ll appreciate DiNardo’s insistence on food prepared with passion, not preservatives. While he describes his approach to cooking as “old school,” it is anything but dull.

Armed with little more than a sauté pan and a creative imagination, DiNardo, resident chef and owner of Lidio’s on route 12 in Leominster, has tenaciously, if not stubbornly held fast to his belief that flavor should come from fresh ingredients and food should be prepared with respect and techniques that enhance rather than disguise. It’s a tall order to fill these days, but DiNardo continues to deliver with dishes ranging from his signature Chicken Pre-Pesto, featuring all of pesto’s ingredients (garlic, basil, pine nuts) before actually becoming pesto, to Stuffed San Marzano Tomatoes with prosciutto and ricotta.

Big chain restaurants have created some difficulties for small, independently-owned restaurants like Lidio’s, and many have failed to thrive in the increasingly competitive environment. After the worst January and February numbers in 13 years, DiNardo, however, saw an advantage. He realized that the corporate giants offer an opportunity for smaller kitchens like his to piggy back on their sizeable market research and advertising budgets.

“People want variety and the chain restaurants can afford to do the market research on trends,” DiNardo said. “By watching what they do and incorporating some of their ideas, I can give my customers the variety they want and they know that they can count on consistent quality and freshness at Lidio’s.”

Lidio’s meals bear DiNardo’s distinctive style and will be prepared from scratch with ingredients as fresh as if you bought them from the store yourself, not from a container of pre-made sauce or a pre-packaged seasoning blend.

Lidio’s also offers you a chance to collaborate with the chef. DiNardo has been known to invite customers into the kitchen to see how he makes their favorite dish. From time to time he also receives customer requests to “just make something” with a particular ingredient. DiNardo welcomes these creative challenges when he has the time to accommodate them. If you’re lucky, he may even include the dish on the menu, bearing your name. Since 80 percent of Lidio’s customers are regulars, including us, he must be doing something right.