The ECHO has spoken with Italian families behind popular city restaurants about why they choose Liverpool as their second home
Paolo and Donato, Italian Quarter off Williamson Square pictured Donato with his brother Carmine(Image: Photo by Colin Lane)
“The city didn’t just give us a place to open a business; it gave us a place to belong. We’re proud to share a piece of Italy here, but even prouder to have become part of this city’s story.”
These were the words of Italian brothers Paolo and Donato Cillo when speaking about Liverpool. The brothers’ feelings are shared by many who now regard the city as home after relocating from Italy.
The brothers, from Potenza in Basilicata, lead the Cillo family enterprise, a business empire celebrated for many years for bringing genuine recipes and customs to Liverpool.
They operate several ventures throughout the area, with Gran Caffe being their flagship – found on Lark Lane, Duke Street, and Jesse Hartley Way. Their first outlet launched more than a decade ago and established itself as a cornerstone in the celebrated Italian Quarter situated in Williamson Square.
In the years since then, they’ve seen a rise in the number of Italian businesses open in the city paying homage to their homeland. Dad Donato said: “It’s also been incredible to see so many other Italian independents join the journey. It shows that Liverpool truly embraces our culture, our passion, and our way of life.”
‘Little Italy’
Liverpool’s Italian links stretch well beyond the businesses that have opened in the last decade. Consider Scotland Road, for instance – the surrounding streets bear little resemblance to Italy’s sun-drenched villages.
But this area was once home to a community of families who left an indelible mark on Liverpool, from the musical instruments they played to the mosaics they crafted in St George’s Hall and some of the city’s renowned buildings on William Brown Street.
The Scotland Road area, on the outskirts of the city centre, earned the nickname ‘Little Italy’ due to the influx of Italian immigrants who made it their home between 1860 and 1920.
Little Italy plaque on Christian Street, Liverpool. (Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Gerard Street was at the epicentre of it all, with Hunter Street, Circus Street, Christian Street, Clare Street, and Lionel Street also playing significant roles.
By the dawn of the 20th century, Little Italy was firmly established, with several hundred families having made their homes there. Many worked as classical musicians, while others peddled ice cream and fish and chips from handcarts and shops scattered across the city.
The homes within Little Italy were demolished during the mass slum clearance of the 1930s and replaced with newly built tenements. Fast forward to the present day, and the influence of this community is not confined to one street but can be felt throughout the region.
‘Liverpool feels like home to me now’
Bruno Tollot came to the UK with the intention of learning the English language. While doing so, the 44-year-old secured a job with a chain company that has sites across Liverpool and Manchester.
He stayed in this role for a year, and during this time, he met his now-wife Louise. Now, the dad-of-two, who lives in Crosby, is behind some of the city’s most popular restaurants—something that was never the initial plan.
Bruno told the ECHO: “I started as front of house, but after I struggled to find a chef, I began learning myself. I come from a family of chefs, as we have a sweet shop in Italy. It has been in our family for 45 years, with my mum still doing it today. It’s become a tradition for us, really.
“I came here to learn, but I found my wife and created a beautiful family. I’ve stayed here since, but this is my way of bringing my culture to Liverpool. Liverpool feels like home to me now. It’s very big in comparison, but it’s very compact, with everything you need in the centre. Scousers are so welcoming.”
The team at Cicchetti
The Italian is the brains behind Cicchetti, a restaurant named after Venice’s bite-sized dishes found on Liverpool Road. He also founded veteran establishments, Moor Lane’s Cantinetta and the former Bellini.
Cicchetti is his newest venue, but it has been open for several years. It first welcomed customers in December 2023. Since then, it has become renowned for its small and medium-sized plates, offering visitors various Mediterranean favourites, from lasagne and carbonara to a variety of meat, fish, and vegan dishes.
Bruno said: “Our restaurant aims to give people the best of my culture. It is traditional and authentic. People aren’t coming here to order fish and chips or modified meals. If you go to Italy, you want to try Italian food, and that’s the same with my restaurant. You come and leave with a little piece of Italy.”
‘We’re hoping to bring something unique to the city’
Roughly a 40-minute train journey from Bruno’s restaurants, you will find a South Liverpool venue where reservations are always in demand. Vincent Margiotta is behind Cucina di Vincenzo, a Woolton Road restaurant that needs to be booked sometimes months in advance.
He, alongside his children Nina, Gabriella and Luca, also runs sister site ViVi on the same street. The Margiotta family comes from a small village called Picinisco in southern Italy’s Campania region.
Vince’s grandparents moved to Scotland before World War II. Vince’s grandfather, Alfonso, created the now-famous Valvona and Crolla deli and wine merchant in Edinburgh.
Now the dad, along with business partners Cristiano Mente and Vito Rosa, are preparing to launch a new venue called Croccante Pizza Romana on Penny Lane.
Nina , Gabriella, Luca and Vincent Margiotta, from Cucina di Vincenzo(Image: Cucina di Vincenzo)
The team has remained tight-lipped about the new venue’s design but told the ECHO it will be “just like in Italy, only closer”. He said: “The opportunity to open on Penny Lane arose a year ago. We saw the unit and we’ve always had a passion for The Beatles, so when the opportunity came up, it created some romanticism, if you like, around the idea.
“There are many pizzerias in Liverpool, but to be quite honest, nothing hits the spot as much as we are looking to do. Many chains are much of a muchness. We are hoping to bring something unique to the city.
“We are going to be utilising ingredients that are all sourced from Italy. Flour will be from a particular grain, the mozzarella will come from one producer, and the tomatoes to make the sauce are of an extremely high quality.”
What’s next?
Friends and business partners Alex Danci and Mauro Torcivia are two Italian natives, from Palermo and Sicily, respectively, who are preparing to scale their humble café into a more ambitious concept.
Their street food-inspired venue, Cose Buone, has taken on a new site, with plans underway to give customers even more of what they love. The café is set to move to a prime location on Dale Street, occupying the old PRS Electronics site.
Mauro told the ECHO: “We will still be a coffee shop, but this time, we will make sure diners are included, not just for lunch. We will be open late and have Sicilian wines, boards, and a real late-night experience.
Alex Danci and Mauro Torcivia from Cose Buone in St John’s Market, 2017(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“We love our customers, and how people react to us has allowed us to live out this experience. The city and people from Liverpool give us positivity to express ourselves. We love them and feel so supported. We want this new place to be what everyone loves but bigger.”
Celebrated for its rustic cuisine, Cose Buone first opened its doors in St John’s Market in 2017 before relocating to a fully established unit on Cheapside Street. The current Cose Buone venue will close and be used as a prep kitchen for the Dale Street site, which is scheduled to open in late August.
‘We immediately fell in love with Liverpool’
Known as the coffee and chocolate capital of Italy, Turin is a northern town loved for its architecture, cuisine, and breathtaking views of the Alps that rise to the west of the city.
It is also the birthplace of Riccardo Porfido, owner of one of Liverpool’s only Italian coffee roasters and the equally unique Caffe Riccardo on Regent Street.
Today, Riccardo’s expert coffee roasting skills can be found not in Italy but in the heart of Vauxhall, having come a long way from their roots.
Riccardo Porfido in front of his hand-made counter (Image: Andrew Teebay/Liverpool ECHO )
Riccardo first opened the eponymous Caffe Riccardo on Regent Street in 2017, when the area had few cafes and restaurants. Despite its somewhat unlikely location, Riccardo was always keen to make the café feel like home to anyone who entered.
Before Liverpool, Riccardo and his wife lived in London, where he spent many of his most fond London days at the city’s St Katharine Docks. But looking for a cheaper place to set up home, they began to search for somewhere new.
He said: “We’d never been to Liverpool before, so we thought, why not go there. We immediately fell in love with Liverpool. The pace is so different to London. The people are so friendly. This is a place for humans, London was a place for numbers.”