York is blessed with a strong Italian community which has spawned some special restaurants serving the food of their homeland. From the pizzas of Naples to the seafood of Sardinia, we took a culinary journey around York to taste the authentic flavours and traditional cultures of Italy.
Paolo – Il Paradiso del Cibo
I’m from Sardinia, which is one of the oldest food cultures, pre Roman times. It gathers a lot of influences – from North Africa and from mainland Italy. As an island, it is rich for everything, from the seafood to the mountains. You have a lot of game and sheep and pig, also traditional pasta.
I moved to York in 1990 and started working in a restaurant called Sylvanos. I came to stay for six months and ended up working for about five years before deciding to stay and go to catering college. I opened Il Paradiso in 2006 and am still in York 35 years after arriving!
On the main menu we have classic dishes from different regions in Italy. Then on the specials board, we specialise in dishes with Sardinian influence: things like suckling pig, fish, king prawns and a traditional pasta of tomato, saffron, basil and pork sausage ragu; it’s called Malloreddus. My Nona Francesca is the inspiration from back home for food. She had so much passion. She grew up through the war so she had to do the most with very few poor ingredients to make nice meals for the family. Spending time with her was always a really fun way for me to learn how to cook.
The whole family made pasta. It was usually left on Saturday and made for Sunday. For lunchtime, we have lasagna, the family gathering together with the little wheel to cut. It was so fun, so magnificent. It makes your love, and it makes a family. It makes life a lot better. Don’t eat because you need to. You need to eat because it’s good for you and you enjoy what you eat. Eat for pleasure.
Armando – Cresci
I’m from behind the Amalfi Coast and close neighbours to Naples. Where I come from is the land of the pizza, where the pizza was born in Italy. Fantastic!
I arrived in York in 2013, and we opened Cresci in 2020, just before the lockdown. We chose York because we love it here. Every pizza we make is like a taste of home.
Because of the region we come from, we serve real traditional pizza. From a simple Margherita, the ‘Queen of Pizza’, to the variety of toppings, all our ingredients are Italian. It’s the number one pizza in York.
Franko – La Bottega
I’m from the island of Sardinia and our main dishes are based on villagers’ agro-pastoral tradition, and above all seafood cuisine.
I moved to York around 2018 and worked as a chef until last year when I started a collaboration as a chef for La Bottega. For La Bottega I’m preparing Sardinian boards with cured meats and cheese, ravioli di Sardegna and also vegetable soups. And we often match Sardinian or Italian wines with the food we serve.
Daniele – Buongiorno
I come from a place called Oristano which is about 7 minutes from the sea and 15 minutes away from a mountain called Monte Arci. This is a good combination for me because being in the middle of the sea and the mountains I had a nice culinary experience at home.
I was working in Oristano at this little bar and really wanted to have an experience out of Italy. I was only 27 so it was the best time to move, still able to learn a new language and do something with my life.
The food is inspired by my home, as are all the recipes for the dishes we serve. I make Malloreddus, which is from Sardinia, but we do that with a different ragu which comes from Puglia. There are three flavours from beef, lamb and pork filler, and we serve it with creamy black pecorino cheese in the bottom of the dish, then drop the hot pasta on top.
You can smell the Sardinian flavours. This is a secret, to have a small restaurant because as soon as people walk by the door, the beautiful smell of our cooking hits them.
