A little slice of Italy has opened in Nottingham city centre where customers can see chefs in action in an open kitchen.
Freshly made pasta, hand-stretched pizza, salads and desserts are on the menu at Solo Grano, which opened this week in Wheeler Gate.
A two-month revamp has transformed the former Treat Kitchen sweet shop into an Italian takeaway with 12 high stools for eating in.
A 25-seater restaurant will open upstairs within six months to a year.
Everything is made in-house, using organic ingredients imported from Italy. The fridges are bursting with the tastiest buffalo mozzarella, pecorino and prosciutto.
Opening from noon every day until late, customers can look forward to something quick and tasty, with a choice of eight different pizzas including a simple but flavoursome Napolitana with tomato, basil leaves and mozzarella, Capricciosa with smoked bacon, mushrooms and artichoke or Salsiccia with pork sausage, fennel and smoked cheese.
Freshly made spaghetti alla chitarra, tagliatelle, casarecce (short twists) and gluten-free penne can be teamed with basil pesto, carbonara, king prawn (flambéed with ouzo) and bolognese.
For something lighter, diners can tuck into honey mustard chicken, Caesar, Caprese, burrata and tabbouleh salads or go all-out with a homemade Italian dessert such as pizza banoffee, calzone with Nutella and mascarpone, tiramisu or panna cotta.
The man who provided the inspiration for Solo Grano is not Italian but one of Greece's top chefs. Executive chef Panagiotis Moisis, who oversees a chain of Italian restaurants in Athens, has come over to Nottingham to help chef and owner Mechmet Kalioutsis set up the business.
Mechmet, 25, is no stranger to kitchens. He was working in his father's Greek restaurant in Rhodes from the age of 13.
He went on to hone his skills at Nottingham restaurants Petit Paris and Yiannis and was a sous chef at one of Belgium's Michelin-starred restaurants.
"Solo Grano means 'only flour'. The secret is the ingredients and the technique. Everything is homemade, nothing is frozen," said Mechmet, adding: "It tastes like paradise."
Prices range from £4.50 for foccacia with olive oil, rosemary and salt blossom to £12.50 for king prawn pasta.
Solo Grano is open from noon until 10pm Monday to Thursday, to 11pm Friday and Saturday, and Sunday 6.30pm.
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