A new Italian restaurant specialising in Cicchetti or tapas-style dishes is opening in Hale village.
Il Trullo – named after the Italian for a dry stone shelter – has taken the place of the Turkish Café Bar on Ashley Road, above Hale Newsagents and Canada Grill.
The husband and wife team behind it, Mirco and Lynn Franco, will now be carrying out a full refurbishment and hope to open in time for Christmas.
Mirco told us the new opening – located on the first and second floors – would be “a bit different” from the other Italians on offer in the area.
“We are an independent family restaurant and don’t just want to be just another Italian restaurant, we want to be something different.”
Mirco is from Puglia in the south of Italy and learned his culinary skills from his mother.
He’s previously worked at Dom’s Tavola Calda in Manchester city centre, Nino’s in Rawtenstall, and Albert’s in Worsley and Castlefield. He’s also worked in Australia and all over Italy.
He said the new restaurant – which will be hiring around eight staff – would offer a full range of pizza and homemade pasta dishes as well as meat, fish and the Cicchetti dishes.
Il Trullo will be open from Tuesday to Friday, 12-2.30pm and 5-10pm, and from 12-11pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
The sale of the Turkish Café Bar to Il Trullo was handled by Hale-based Harvey Silver Hodgkinson.
