An Italian restaurant is to open in the vacant unit formerly occupied by Frankie and Benny’s.
The Denmark Street unit, next door to the Vue Cinema, has been unoccupied since the start of Covid in 2020 having been put up for sale in 2019.
The new restaurant, to be called Il Cappero which literally translates as The Caper, is aiming to be open in time for the Coronation on Saturday May 6th but will be confirming an open date once it has resolved certain interior issues.
The 140-seat restaurant will create between 15 and 20 new jobs and will serve an authentic Italian menu of pizza, pasta, meat and a particular specialism in fish.
Il Cappero will see manager Paolo Petrutio and head chef Carmine Diana reunite having most recently worked together at a restaurant in Essex.
They have previously worked at Cheshire restaurants including Marco Marco in Alderley Edge.
Head chef Carmine Diana, who hails originally from Amalfi in southern Italy, has Altrincham connections having been best man for Antonio Santangelo, who used to run the Scalini Italian deli on Ashley Road before his death a couple of years ago.
He has also previously worked for the San Carlo chain.
Carmine told us: “I love a challenge and we’ll be doing our best to make Il Cappero a success.”
The new restaurant, which will be open every day except Monday, is currently undergoing an complete interior refurbishment.
