New restaurant Magari promises to bring authentic, home-cooked Italian food to Bristol when it opens at Wapping Wharf. The new shipping container restaurant at Cargo 2 behind M-Shed will specialise in fresh pasta made on site every day.
Meaning 'I hope so' in Italian, Magari will also serve vegan, vegetarian and meat-based Italian pasta dishes that focus on using the best ingredients from the South West. Alongside their pasta diners will be able to enjoy wine served in carafes and jugs of refreshing ‘Spritz’ (liqueur, Prosecco and soda water), all served with small aperitivo snacks designed to be shared with friends and family.
Magari is the brainchild of friends and co-owners Gilda Lombardi and Delphi Ross. Gilda came to Bristol from Italy two years ago and the two met during lockdown when Delphi was giving Gilda’s children English lessons before they started school.
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Gilda was cooking a meal for Delphi when they realised they had the perfect set of complementary skills needed to start a new restaurant venture in Bristol. They were soon discussing the idea of starting a restaurant together.
Gilda’s family run a cookery school in Rome and she was taught how to cook by her mother and grandmother. Delphi lived in Naples for two years and has worked in the hospitality trade for ten years.
Gilda Lombardi says: “Food is a huge part of our culture in Italy and because of my background I was really born into cooking so opening Magari feels very natural to me. We really want to bring together and celebrate Italy’s dynamic food culture and the amazing local produce that is grown and made in the South West.”
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Delphi Ross says: “For Italians, food is a communal activity that brings everyone together with love and laughter and we want a night out at Magari to have that same effect. Wapping Wharf has such a great community atmosphere that it makes perfect sense for us to open here.”
Magari will be moving into a double unit at Cargo 2, half of which was formerly home to pie shop Buxton & Bird. The other half was previously vintage clothing boutique Something Elsie, which has now moved next door into the unit formerly occupied by Longwell Records, which recently closed to focus on its Keynsham shop.
Stuart Hatton, managing director at Umberslade, the developer behind Wapping Wharf, says: “Magari’s family-friendly Italian food is going to be a great addition to Wapping Wharf. With its emphasis on communal eating, sharing and socialising, it will fit perfectly with our friendly neighbourhood ethos.” Magari plans to open in April.
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