A popular Italian pop-up restaurant has finally found its permanent home where it all began in 2018. Grano has taken over the former site of the Glitch salon in Old Market.
Headed up by Piedmontese chef, Alberto Noriega said he was emotional but excited to get started again. “I’ve been around many venues and I’ve finally found the place I can properly begin,” he told BristolLive.
The kitchen pop-up first launched at Glitch in 2018 where the team stayed for two years. It has since occupied the kitchens at The Boardroom, Number Fifty, To The Moon and a brief stint at the Bristol Old Vic. The chef said he is investing all he has into this new venture for Grano after taking time out to finance a permanent home for the restaurant just outside the city centre.
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Old Market’s food scene is evolving. Before recently, the centre was the main hub for restaurants but interesting venues like Chido Wey and Tomo No Ramen have sprung up recently.
Alberto continued: “I hope by moving there maybe some other people will open new restaurants in the same area and people will start to go to Old Market to eat. Right now, Old Market isn’t firmly on the map for that so I’d like to help contribute to that and be part of that community. I hope it will grow in the next few years.”
The restaurant’s home on Old Market Street will have a cover of 36 in the dining area with an additional 14 seated in the bar area, which will offer light bites to accompany their drinks for those not looking for a full meal. The menu will be unapologetically Italian but not rooted in the north west of Italy where Alberto grew up.
“My mother is from the south of Italy and my father is Spanish. I was born and raised in the north of Italy so for me mixing cuisines has never been a problem.
“I don’t want to stick to one region only I just want to try to make people feel like they’re eating in an Italian restaurant in Italy and not in the UK. I want to focus on creating the best food we can and implementing every good aspect of the Italian cuisine from every region from north to south without falling into the trap of Italian stereotypes.
“A lot of Italian restaurants in the UK have a selection of dishes that don’t really exist in Italy. It frustrates us Italians who move to the UK. They are making a profit off of something that doesn’t really exist in Italy, which is fine it’s their game, but we don’t want to do that. We just want to create what’s good in Italy.”
Grano will focus on serving simple, fresh pasta dishes such as tortellini and ravioli along with meat and vegetable main courses. More than half of the menu will be vegetarian to reflect Italy’s love of vegetables and use very few ingredients in the best way possible.
“The menu will be extremely limited. You won’t expect to see more than 12 to 15 items on the whole menu as we don’t like to have 100 options and food waste. The smaller the menu the fresher the produce and we want to stick to the tradition we’ve had since day one.”
After opening, the restaurant will then experiment with local flavours and consider a weekend brunch service, but will always remain true to Italy’s roots. Italian cuisine is very traditional, but Alberto said he was conscious not to stay too fixed in its offering.
The cafe area will be open from Monday to Saturday in the mornings offering pastries for people to enjoy with a cup of coffee. The times for lunch and dinner sittings are yet to be confirmed.
Grano is also partnering with Foodstuff, which delivers high quality meals from the city’s independents with zero emissions. The team at Grano is aiming to open before Christmas day this year.
48-49 Old Market Street, Bristol
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