What: A 110-cover Italian restaurant located on South Street in the West Sussex town of Chichester.
Who: Piccolino is part of Individual Restaurants, which also operates the southern Italian food restaurant brand Riva Blu, and steak and seafood brand Restaurant Bar & Grill. The Chichester restaurant is the 22nd in the Piccolino portfolio, joining restaurants in locations as diverse as Birmingham, Bristol, Henley, Mayfair, Liverpool, and Sheffield. The group is led by CEO Andrew Garton with the menus devised by group executive Mark Window, who has worked with the company for more than 22 years in roles including head chef at Restaurant Bar & Grill in Manchester, head of food development for both Restaurant Bar & Grill and Piccolino brands. General manager of the Chichester restaurant is Rocco Sportelli, who has made the move from Sheffield, where he was general manager of the Piccolino there.
The food: Specialising in Italian food, Piccolino’s menu is broad, running from sharing dishes and antipasti through pasta, risotto and pizzas as well as a number of steaks and fish dishes. Standout starters include a very generous starter of chicken livers, marsala cream, grapes, and pine nuts on sourdough; toasted sourdough with king prawns, confit garlic butter, chilli, lemon and flat leaf parsley; and pan-seared king scallops in a salmoriglio sauce with creamed potatoes, garlic spinach and crispy breadcrumbs. The gamut of classic Italian dishes is then covered with an extensive range of pasta dishes that include a 25-layer lasagne made with wagyu beef in honour of the brand’s 25th birthday; and spaghetti carbonara prepared at the table in a pecorino cheese wheel. Indeed, dining room service is a feature of the restaurant, which also serves a salt-baked seabass that is filleted tableside as well as sharing cuts of beef - a 450g chateaubriand or, for heartier appetites, a 1kg bistecca alla Fiorentina T-bone steak.
To drink: Piccolino’s sparkling wine list isn’t limited to Italy, with two each of prosecco and spumante on the menu alongside a small selection of champagnes, but beyond that the wines are strictly Italian. Whites start at £30 a bottle for a Stemmari Grillo and top out at £140 for a Cervaro Della Sala from Antinori while the red options has a number of bigger hitters, including a selection of Super Tuscans available from £93 to £500. There’s a decent by-the-glass offer and three wines (one white, two red) are also available by the half bottle.
The vibe: Considerable effort has gone into the restaurant design, which is inspired by the fashionable cities of Milan and Rome. Features include a marble topped bar area that greets guests as they enter and a striking aquamarine patterned floor that has a hint of The Ivy Asia to it. The main dining itself is more muted with wooden parquet flooring and smart wooden panelling, an abundance of plants, white marble-topped tables and light blue leather and plush seating throughout. The result is a welcoming an luxurious space that emphasises Piccolino’s premium casual positioning.
And another thing: Piccolino Chichester finally looks like it will bring some stability to a site that has experienced a high turnover of concepts in the past few years, including being a location of the Lime Squeezy Thai restaurant brand and more recently a Three Joes pizzeria, which closed at the start of the year.
31-33 South Street, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1EL
www.piccolinorestaurants.com