Restaurant owner and chef Alberto Noriega has poured his heart and soul into the reopening of Grano. The popular Italian pop-up has had many homes over the years including The Boardroom, Number Fifty, To The Moon and a brief stint at the Bristol Old Vic, but last October, Alberto told me how emotional he felt also finding a permanent home.
As fate would have it, Alberto and his team are returning to the place where Grano first began back in 2018 after Glitch moved into a bigger salon space on the other side of Old Market Street. When I spoke to Alberto just before Christmas, he told me he'd been working non-stop, with just Christmas Day as a break, to open the restaurant on December 28.
As the rain beat down one lunchtime across a very wet Old Market, I took respite in the newly opened restaurant seeking warmth from a bowl of pasta. Even in the middle of the week as the weather took a turn, there was a mellow buzz about the restaurant.
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The food menu is temporarily limited but omnivores, vegetarians and vegans are all catered for through lasagne and gnocchi. Meat eaters will have to try the luxurious lasagne made with pork, lamb and beef for £13.50 - a dish which is what put Grano on the map all those years ago.
There's also an assortment of snacks and starters to keep you going. Giardiniera (pickled vegetables) for £5.50 or Sicilian olives for £3.50. I tried the garlic bread, which had a crispy crust and a doughy inside, perfect for pulling apart (£4.50).
I'll admit my heart sank a little when I saw gnocchi on the menu. I've never had well-made gnocchi in a restaurant but I trusted I was in good hands here (Alberto was born in the northern region of Piedmont).
It was by far the best gnocchi I've ever eaten, freshly made each day and priced at £10.50. The pillowy dumplings were unbelievably soft and light - in the past, it's been tough and so claggy that the dough stuck to my teeth. There was none of that here, with each gnocchi coated in a smooth, bright orange pumpkin sauce mopped up perfectly with the bread.
Pumpkin, gnocchi and pine nuts are the makings of a heavenly dish and showcase what Italy does best - unpretentious, rustic cooking with very few high-quality ingredients and made with lots of passion.
Grano's wine list includes two house bottles from Sicily, Italy's largest wine region where Marsala was born. I went for the Tasari, a velvety, earthy red which is just £4 per glass or £21 for the bottle. The beer offering is represented by Bristol's own Wiper and True as well as a number of Italian cocktails and spirits.
The service is so slick that you'll be in and out before the end of your lunch break. For those looking to keep the meal going a little longer, diners can indulge in a proper tiramisu for £6 or a sticky, sweet caramel panna cotta (£5). As I left to pay my bill (£19 in total), I could see Alberto working hard in the kitchen to prepare more gnocchi for the dinner service.
Italian cookery has tough competition in Bristol where there is already an abundance of restaurants promising fresh pasta scattered throughout the city. But Grano’s decision to move home to its first pop-up site in Old Market is certainly astute.
The food scene has grown remarkably over the past few years with the arrival of Tomo No Ramen and Chido Whey. Alberto previously said he hopes to be a key player in the area's renaissance as a food destination.
Grano is still very much in its teething stages. The dining area is stripped back with white and teal walls but there is a very impressive tracing of a map of all of Italy's regions ready to be painted. There was a slight draft by the time some of the other diners had left, but I can imagine a lot of warmth comes from the open kitchen during a busy evening service.
The menu is restricted while the kitchen tests what works and what doesn't, but chef has big ambitions to open for breakfast, lunch and dinner services when the restaurant is completely up and running. Grano is currently open for lunch from Tuesday to Saturday (12pm-3pm) and dinner from Wednesday to Saturday (5pm-10.30pm, last dinner served at 9pm).
48/49 Old Market Street, Bristol BS29UU. Tel: 0117 258 0008
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