Marco Marco to open second Italian restaurant in Cheshire with plans to double portfolio in next 12 months

Three years on from the opening of the first site, the new 88-cover restaurant will offer the same eclectic Italian menu, with a lounge area providing an additional 25 seats as well as a bar area.

Marco Marco Group, which plans to open a further two restaurants in the next year, has sympathetically restored the 300-year-old former hostelry, with the interior featuring Italian inlaid tables.

Executive chef Antonio Romeo will oversee the kitchen, using locally-sourced, organic ingredients. The bar remains a central feature, serving cocktails, champagnes by the glass and Italian beers such as Peroni and Moretti, alongside Amstel, John Smith’s, cask ales and the executive cider Symonds.

On the menu:​

• Antipasti​

Costine Di Maiale (£7.25) –Spare ribs glazed with aged balsamic and honey and fennel seeds

Formaggio Del Pastore – ​goat’s cheese on a flat mushroom, with a pesto dressing (£6.95).

• Mains​

Roma (£8.75) – Non-tomato-based pizza, in cream cheese, with olive oil and smoked salmon and wild rocket.

Filetto Rossini Monte Bianco (£22.95) – British fillet steak cooked in Madeira wine, served on a crouton, topped with home-made pâté and Parmesan shavings in a brandy sauce

• Desserts​

Home-made Tiramisu (£4.95)

Cheesecake Brulée (£4.75)

The wine list will be selected by Berkmann Wine Cellars and will include examples from lesser-known regions including Calabria, Lombardia and Emilia Romagna, as well as from fine vineyards from across Europe.

Marco Marco Lymm has plans to expand to be able to provide 125 covers later this year. A private launch party of the restaurant will take place on Wednesday, with the site opening to the public on Thursday.