Gusto Italian, the premium casual dining group, has relaunched its Alderley Edge restaurant after a quarter of a million-pound refurbishment.
The popular London Road restaurant recently celebrated its 15th birthday, and Gusto Italian has marked the anniversary by giving the site a significant overhaul, introducing new décor, a revamped private dining room, and new concepts including the Pizza Experience and the Theatre Kitchen that have proven highly popular at new restaurants and other refurbished locations.
The new design features will deliver an immersive and unique dining experience. The Theatre Kitchen unites the kitchen and dining area to create a truly open kitchen, giving guests the opportunity to witness Gusto Italian’s skilled chefs first-hand, while the Pizza Experience, unique to Gusto Italian, provides two and a half hours of feasting and entertainment at the Chef’s Table.
Next month, Alderley Edge Chef, Matteo Scalletta, will represent Gusto Italian in the National Pizza Awards, where he will go head-to-head with chefs from restaurants, street food stalls and pop-ups for the chance for Gusto Italian’s Nduja, Mascarpone and honey pizza to be named best in the UK.
Gusto Italian CEO Matt Snell, said, “We’re proud of our Cheshire roots, so it’s great to be able to invest in one of our first ever restaurants to make the guest experience better than ever. Wherever we’ve introduced new design elements and dining experiences, we’ve seen our industry-leading Net Promoter Scores improve even further, so we’re looking forward to seeing what our loyal customers in Alderley Edge make of the changes.”
Along with a striking interior redesign, Gusto Italian Alderley Edge will also reopen with a new menu and classic and bottomless brunch options, with dishes ranging from classic full breakfasts to smashed avocado on toast, served alongside fizz or signature Gusto Italian brunch cocktails including the Breakfast Pornstar Martini and Bloody Mary.
The refurbishment is the latest in a series of investments from Gusto Italian’s self-funded, £2m CAPEX programme, having opened its flagship site in Nottingham, in December 2021, and refurbished restaurants in Cookridge in Leeds, Liverpool, and Edinburgh. The business also announced plans to open its 14th site in Oxford, at the old Mitre Hotel, later this year.
In addition to investing in its restaurants, Gusto Italian has also been investing in the people who work there. In April, the company announced a new partnership with PayCaptain, which strengthened its employee proposition and pushed financial awareness and wellbeing up the agenda for its people, while it has also launched an apprenticeship scheme, which will enable Junior Managers to achieve a degree-level qualification, bridging the skills gap and improving pathways for progression within the business.
Founded in Cheshire in 2005, Gusto Italian has almost 600 employees, known as family members, across 13 restaurants.