News / Italian
New Italian cafe and restaurant opens on Lower Park Row
A ‘friendship room’ downstairs at Lapanza with one large table is just one way that owner Riccardo Damiani wants to make his new cafe and restaurant on Lower Park Row authentically Italian.
He hopes that someone on their own on their lunch break will be able to strike up conversation with other people sitting here.
“This is what we do in Italy, you know, everybody gathers together to eat,” Riccardo told Bristol24/7. “For us, this is what makes a meal.”
is needed now More than ever
Lapanza owner Riccardo Damiani has only lived in Bristol for a year since moving here from Italy
Riccardo, 25, has lived in Bristol for a year and previously worked in Chaiwalla on Stokes Croft, which recently closed, giving him the impetus to open his own business.
His initial idea was something informal and more similar to Chaiwalla, but when he saw the historic property that was previously Beatroot cafe and before that a gift shop, he was inspired by its character to create something different.
“I wanted to bring my grandmother’s and my mother’s recipes so that everybody could have a taste of it,” Riccardo said.
“I want everybody to try it because these are the foods that I eat every day at home. We want to share this food. We want other people to try it.”
Lapanza is a cosy and authentically Italian cafe and restaurant
Don’t expect sandwiches at Lapanza. Instead, on the second day of opening on Tuesday there were three different focaccias from £5 with a choice of pampanella, octopus carpaccio, and roast vegetables and hummus.
On the menu of the day, £5 starters included mackerel with red onions and aubergine parmigiana; with main courses starting at £8.90 including pampanella with sauteed cavolo nero (Tuscan kale) and kale, and lasagna with sausage and porcini bechamel.
The two dessert option on Tuesday were the Italian classic tiramisu (£4.80) alongside almond-flavoured Brutti Ma Buoni (“ugly but good”) biscuits for £1.20.
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