Chesterfield Italian restaurant celebrating anniversary thanks customers for helping “navigate” first year
The owners of a Chesterfield Italian restaurant celebrating its first anniversary have thanked their customers for helping them “navigate” their first year in business.
La Dolce Vita Lambarelli’s opened in September last year – having been taken on by chef Nicusor Tufa and his family. Formerly Lambarelli’s, the restaurant was rebranded by the family when it changed hands from former owner Teresa Lambarelli.
Front-of-house Giulia Tufa, 19, said after a typically challenging start the restaurant – open for breakfast, lunch and dinner five days a week – was now doing well on it’s busy Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays picking up all the time.
Speaking about the first year in business, she said: “It was difficult at the start because people were not aware that we were open Tuesday to Saturday. Customers are leaving happy and they share feed back saying they want to come back.”
Giulia says the family and its staff work hard to create a good experience by communicating well. She said: “We talk to each other to make sure we’re doing everything well and correctly for everyone. We try and get feedback to make sure the table was Ok, that the music is alright.
"It’s a family-run restaurant so we want people to feel like they’re in home in Italy, we want to make sure they’re comfortable. There’s me, my mum and dad working together but with the rest of the staff members it feels like a big family because we all communicate and work together.”
Chef Nicusor Tufa – formerly head chef at Lombardi’s – has worked in kitchens for over 20 years. The family moved to the UK nearly eight years ago from Sardinia.
Popular dishes from the main menu include traditional Sardinian gnocchi, salmon tagliatelle and panciotti capesante, however the specials menu is changed every two weeks. Currently on specials is ribs, sea bream and chicken supreme, with starters including zucchini, cannelloni with Parma ham and seafood bruschetta.
As the restaurant approaches the end of its first year Giulia said the family wanted to thank its customers for their support. She said: “They help us navigate the business by giving us feedback which helps us improve the way we work. We’ve become friends with lots of them but we want to thank all the new customers that are showing up.
"It was always my dad’s dream to own his own restaurant and we found it a big challenge at the beginning because it was all new but as we get more experience we’re enjoying it more. At the beginning it was a big challenge but hard work pays off.”