Author pays tribute to Italian restaurateur Mario Cassandro

Cassandro opened La Trattoria Terrazza in London's Soho with his business partner Franco Lagattolla in 1959 after they quit their jobs as waiters at Mirabelle.

The pair, credited with changing the face of eating out in the UK with their more relaxed style of dining, went on to create what could be described as the nation's first Italian restaurant chain, as they went public in 1968 and opened restaurants in London, Bristol, Manchester and Leeds. They also inspired other restaurateurs to open Italian restaurants in a similar style.

Pioneering restaurateur​

Alasdair Scott Sutherland, the author of the book The Spaghetti Tree, Mario and Franco and the Trattoria Revolution,​ described Cassandro as a 'wonderful man with a golden heart'.

"The two years I worked with him on The Spaghetti Tree were a wonderful experience and a great privilege. I will miss him every time I order a bowl of pasta," he said.

Writing in the book, published in 2009, Scott Sutherland wrote: "Mario Cassandro was not only a pioneering restaurateur, who with his partner Franco Lagattolla transformed our restaurant landscape and changed Britons’ attitudes to dining out. He was also a genuinely unique and original character, one who was passionate about the business, loved and became loved by several thousand of his regular customers, each one of whom believed that he or she alone was Mario’s favourite.

"His charm was blinding, his memory for names and faces elephantine; he was able instantly to recognise and name former customers even thirty five years since their last visit to one of his trattorias."

London restaurant​

Cassandro and Lagattolla sold their restaurant empire at the beginning of the 1970s and returned to Italy, but Cassandro decided to return to London six years later where he opened Mario restaurant on Brompton Road, which he ran for several years before retiring in 1991. Lagattolla died in 1980.

Scott Sutherland said despite leaving the industry, Cassandro still paid an interest in it: "Even in his 91st year he was still keen to cross London to meet friends and enjoy 'a fantastic little Pizza place I’ve found in Lavender Hill'," he said.