Italian craft beer pub The Italian Job to expand
The business, led by chief executive Giuseppe Verdoni, opened its first site in Chiswick, London, a year ago and is now planning to expand into East London for its second.
Verdoni said: "Reviews from press and feedback from customers have been excellent and we thought this was the right time to move forward and open a second site. Chiswick is far from our customers in East London and we need to open there to catalyse our success so far."
The Italian Job is aiming to raise £350k for 15 per cent of the company through crowdfunding website Crowdcube. The investment will be used to pay for the lease of a pub in East London with Shoreditch and Dalston among the areas being considered.
Verdoni told BigHospitality he was looking for an 80-cover site with the potential for a late licence. The second venue, which could open this summer if all goes to plan, would offer 20 to 25 Italian beers on tap (almost double the amount on offer in Chiswick) and a wider Italian street food offering.
He said The Italian Job, which sells only Italian craft beers brewed at Italy's craft beer production plant Birrifico del Ducato, alongside Italian wines and an Italian food offering, had struck a chord with British drinkers.
"People in the UK love Italian food and craft beers," he said. "Our beers are very peculiar, as Italian brewers have no tradition to face but are free to experiment, reinterpreting traditional beer styles or pushing the boundaries of brewing; always keeping the balance of flavours and aromas being inspired by Italian art and their culture of food. What results are intensely complex beers rich with flavour and deeply drinkable. Whatever you wind up tasting, odds are it will be memorable.
"Our food offering is very unique, too. We don’t go for typical Italian dishes but for regional specialties. We have reinterpreted the menu you can find in a typical Italian trattoria, customising to the pub offering. We offer arancini, rice balls with different fillings, Italian roast and burgers, and the typical dish from our hometown Parma, charcuterie with fried pizza dough."