Tell us about Via Emilia, what did inspire you to start it?
What inspired me most was the fact that many clients in our Central London restaurant “In Parma” asked us for the famous “Gnocco Fritto”, a typical bread from Emilia Romagna to eat with meat and cheese. Italians everywhere get crazy about it, so focusing on the Emilia Romagna region meant this is food we couldn’t miss.
What is innovative / unique about the restaurant?
The “Gnocco Fritto” is our unique quality, as we are the first in London and also the fact that all of our products, recipes and wines come exclusively from the region. So, there is no buffalo mozzarella or Chianti available at Via Emilia, but there are very good substitutes. Another unique fact is that we don’t buy any Italian products from the distributors based in UK, all the products come directly from Italy to our restaurant once a month. Also hand-made pasta starting from £5.5: a very good value!
How do you select the menu for the restaurant?
We simply picked the original, authentic recipe from each part of the Emilia Romagna region and we recreated maintaining the exact recipes of the grandmas to savour the real Emilia Romagna.
What is your signature dish that everyone has to try?
Definetely the “Gnocco Fritto”- it’s a must!
Why did you choose Shoreditch/East London for the new restaurant?
Because Shoreditch was missing a real authentic Italian with amazing value!
What would you say has been the most memorable experience while developing this business?
Talking to grandmas to get the original recipes for the different pastas
What are your future plans?
Developing a new concept under the brand Food Roots which is our parent brand and has to certify the authenticity of each concept.
Social info:
Website: https://www.via–emilia.com/
