A new Italian restaurant is set to open in Kendal, creating up to 30 jobs in the town.
Nick Ward and Giuseppe Sepe, who already run three other restaurants in South Lakeland, have expanded their portfolio and plan to open Sapore at 21A Stramongate within the next six weeks.
And the pair have some exciting ideas in store, including offering up to 1,200 wine choices and creating their own branded produce on site.
“All our restaurants are neighbourhood bistro-type places and we want to keep that theme going,” said Nick.
“Sapore – which is Italian for ‘taste’ – will be somewhere people can come and enjoy themselves and have great food and wine.”
Giuseppe said the restaurant would serve authentic Italian food, including some of the more modern dishes and cooking techniques currently being used in Italy.
Sapore will initially open from 4pm Tuesdays to Fridays and from noon on Saturdays, but eventually will open every day.
“We are looking to recruit front of house staff, a head chef, commis chef and pizza chef, bar staff and management,” said Nick. “In total there will be 25 to 30 new jobs – at least 20 of those will be full-time.”
The premises – formerly the site of Little Italy restaurant – includes a restaurant with about 60 covers, a bar area downstairs which can be used as an additional restaurant area for parties and a lounge bar upstairs, where customers can also order sharing platters and antipasti.
The duo, who both live in Windermere, plan to make their own deli produce for sale in the restaurant and eventually online, including breadsticks, small jars of pickled olives and aubergines and their own tomato sauce.
The restaurant will stock up to 50 wines but customers will be able to choose from up to 1,200 wines from Sapore’s wine merchant.
“It might be a wine they have tried and enjoyed in Italy in the past that they want to try again,” said Giuseppe.
“They will be able to order the wine in advance and it will be waiting for them on their table when they arrive,” said Nick.
The duo also run Urban Food House in Bowness; Hooked, a seafood restaurant in Windermere and The Estuary in Main Street, Grange-over-Sands, which employ a total of 42 staff.
“We wanted an Italian restaurant in our portfolio,” said Giuseppe. “We are aware of the plans to revamp Kendal over the next few years and we believe this restaurant will fit well into the environment that is being created.”
Nick and Giuseppe are also hoping to expand their portfolio still further and operate other restaurants in South Lakeland in future.
Nick, originally from Poulton le Fylde, spent 10 years in the hospitality industry in London and managed restaurants in Manchester and South Lakeland before he and Giuseppe bought Urban Food House three years ago.
Giuseppe grew up in Naples and worked in high-end hotels and restaurants in Italy and Switzerland for several years before moving to the Lake District and working in hospitality in Windermere and Ambleside. The duo met around six years ago.
