A family-run restaurant in Whitley Bay is bringing a taste of Italy to the North East coast with the launch of its brand new menu.
Pranzo Trattoria & Deli opened on Station Road in July 2021, and started off with a pared-back menu serving Italian breakfast dishes and pizza.
Tuscan-born owner Pablo Masucci, 37, and his wife Louise are behind the cosy and colourful restaurant, which has received rave reviews from diners ever since opening its doors.
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After more than two decades of experience in the food and wine industry, first in Italy and later in the North East, Pablo wanted to showcase his mouth-watering family recipes in a restaurant of his own.
“It was always one of my dreams to open an authentic Italian - because there’s not many around,” he says.
Pranzo prides itself on offering diners “the authentic Italian culinary experience, no compromises” - and according to Pablo, this is what sets the restaurant apart from other Italians in the North East.
“If we were going to open this place in Italy, it would have been exactly the same,” he says. “We’re making Italian food - not Italian food for the British market. That’s the big difference.”
This ethos to give visitors the genuine Italian experience means that the new tapas menu - known as Cicchetti in Italy and most famously a tradition in Venice - is very much inspired by Italian culture.
“In Italy, one of the things that we do is get together and have fifteen courses in one meal,” Pablo explains. “This concept is so you can try different things at the same time.”
Pranzo’s new tapas dishes include calamari, rosemary roast potatoes with parmesan and truffle oil, and Polpette Delle Nonna - pork and beef meatballs slow-cooked in tomato sauce and served with focaccia.
Also on the menu is Suppli Al Telefono, a giant croquette stuffed with rice, pork and beef ragu, and mozzarella - a traditional Roman street food snack that got its name from the stringy cheese inside resembling a telephone cord when the croquette is pulled apart.
The restaurant also offers classic Italian starters and sides like antipasti, bruschetta and burrata, as well as continuing to serve up their signature pizzas.
It has been a challenge opening a new restaurant during the pandemic - but according to Pablo the local community has been “absolutely amazing” in lending their support to the new venue, and staff now “see the same faces coming back every day”.
Pablo says that he would love to open more restaurants around the North East in the future, but in the meantime promises variety to diners at Pranzo with a menu that changes every week to showcase new Italian recipes.
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