End of an era... award-winning Italian up for sale
ONE of Huddersfield’s best-loved Italian restaurants, Trattoria Domenico, has been put up for sale for £150,000.
The award-winning business at the top of Imperial Arcade in the town centre is run by father and son team, Salvatore Domenico and Giuseppe Cina. It was opened in January 2012.
The restaurant is in the same premises as the former Sole Mio pizzeria, a Huddersfield institution for 30 years.
Since the Trattoria’s doors opened in the left hand part of the old Sole Mio it has proved popular.
And in December 2014 the Domenico family celebrated winning a prestigious gold award after being nominated for Independent Restaurant of the Year in the Pizza Pasta & Italian Food Association awards.
But Salvatore says if he gets the right offer then he will sell to pursue other business interests.
These are likely to stay local, with father and son already having investigated possible culinary ventures in Holmfirth, Slaithwaite and Marsden.
Their old-school Sicilian restaurant has grown rapidly from fairly modest beginnings.
Initially there were just 10 tables but the takeover of the Casa Gelato ice cream parlour in January 2015 resulted in a bigger bar area, 23 tables and a delicatessen which is now long gone.
Another expansion followed last November, with the restaurant boasting seating for more than 100 covers and outdoor seating for 20 on the patio.
A piano bar was created and Giuseppe taught himself to play.
Dad-of-three Salvatore, 49, who hails from Palermo, Sicily, said: “I came to England by mistake.
“I was supposed to be heading for Los Angeles and I ended up in London.
“But London was far too expensive and I only lasted six months before coming to Huddersfield in 1998.”
Trained in the kitchen by his late father Rosario, a butcher and farmer, he worked for the equally well-established Da Sandro Italian restaurant and pizzeria in Halifax Road, Birchencliffe, before eventually setting up his own.
Giuseppe, 26, whose partner Justina, is expecting their first child, said: “We have been here for seven years and every morning it is a joy to walk through the doors and come to work.
“But life moves on and if the price is right then we will sell it.”