RESTAURANT BROUGHT A TASTE OF ITALY TO TYNESIDE
IT was September 1965, and there was an exciting new addition to Newcastle’s culinary scene.
A small advert in the Chronicle on Wednesday, the sixth of that month, announced the opening of Ristorante Roma at number 22 Collingwood Street, a former antique shop.
It read: “Opens today at 6pm. Pascal and Mario invite you to enjoy typical Italian cuisine and atmosphere. Special opening 4-course menu 8s 6d (which is less than 50p in today’s money).”
As the country continued to shake off the post-war blues, and with the Swinging ‘60s nearing its heady peak, Roma would give the folk of Newcastle their first taste of genuine Italian food.
About 150 curious Geordies flocked to the first night. There was even a Spanish guitarist – Eusebio – on hand to entertain guests.
It was a roaring success and the new restaurant’s takings were £34 8s 6d (around £690 in today’s money).
A legend was born and, over time, there would be numerous popular Italian restaurants established across Newcastle.
Roma was the brainchild of Pascal Fulgenzi and his friend Mario Neri. The pair had arrived in the city in 1962 from Rome, via Switzerland and the merchant navy.
Pascal always claimed to have introduced Newcastle to the delights of garlic, olive oil, king prawns, mineral water and wine.
And his approach to the business? “I’ve always believed in quality food and quality time in a restaurant. That is what it is called – you should be able to rest and relax,” he later declared.
The new restaurant’s first head chef Michele Capolongo, a 36-year-old father-of-four, had arrived on Tyneside from Rome, via London.
He proudly told how he had cooked for acting stars Laurence Olivier and Gina Lollobrigida while working in the capital, and that the most popular dishes at Roma were “lasagne al forno and cannelloni alla Romana”.
From 1970, Pascal ran the restaurant single-handedly after Mario left amicably to set up his own business on Westgate Road.
Some of the famous faces who dined at Roma over the years included Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Albert
Finney, Spike Milligan, Bruce Forsyth and Newcastle United stars Malcolm Macdonald and Bobby Moncur, among many others.
Then, in October 2008, we reported how Roma was closing after 43 years.
Seventy-year-old Pascal, who was still head chef at the time, told us: “It’s a lovely city, but times change and there are too many pubs now.
“At one time you could have walked down to our restaurant from the Theatre Royal without passing a pub. But it’s changed a lot since then. It’s not conducive to our clientele any more.
“They don’t want to come in at the weekend because they don’t want to park their cars in the street. And it can be intimidating with people going
from bar to bar.”
He went on: “We’ve had some great times over the past 43 years. I was 28 when I first started, it’s been a lifetime. We’ve survived such a long time.”