Big Mamma to open La Bellazza in Birmingham on 29 November

The squadra’s dropped anchor, and we’re almost ready to pull back the curtain on our first restaurant in the UK’s second city… La Bellezza! 

Nestled in the grand Chamberlain Square in Birmingham’s Colmore Business District, there was no more fitting a spot for this haven to long-lost romance and well-loved Italian prodotti than a city renowned for its foodie devotion.

Creak open the timber door, peek past the seven-metre-long tapestry curtains, and let La Bellezza whisk you away to a romantically wild courtyard in Perugia. Welcome to our hallowed theatre to food, bedecked floor to ceiling with ancient Italian artefacts, over 5,000 vintage bottles of heavenly liquor, and towering paintings of times gone by. 

Look up wistfully at the handmade Murano glass chandeliers dotted through the tumbling ivy or peruse our 6m wide bookcase filled with vintage novellas and saucy fiction. After craning your neck, saunter across a checkerboard of white and green Italian marble to the emerald bar to sample pillowy-soft Neapolitan pizza, topped with Salvatore Corsone’s Mozzarella di Bufala, from our pizzaiola maestros, or sip on of our XXL cocktail creations, such as a blend of sweet white peach liqueur, rum and fresh grapefruit.

Feet still firmly on the ground? Napoli-born Head Chef Domenico has curated a menu where Italian produce, sourced directly from our 170 artisans, takes centre stage. Delve into 250g burrata, fresh from Puglia, filled with homemade pesto di basilico, savour delicately salty slices of 24-month-aged prosciutto di Parma DOP from Paolo and Gianfranco Leoncini, then mop it all up with oregano-dusted focaccia, made in casa every day. 

Drumroll please for our primi: homemade linguine, spaghetti, ravioli, pici and mafaldine. Tossed in the richest sauces, such as spiced Cornish lamb, slow-cooked in a San Marzano tomatoes DOP ragù, or creamy truffle mascarpone, with shavings of fresh black Umbrian truffle. All best indulged with a bottle (or two) of fine organic Italian wine. Take your pick from over 40 varieties on our list, from crisp Vermentino to the richest Barolos, and sip sip away. Of course, the show is not complete without the classic carbonara (no cream amore mio!),so naturally we’ve rolled our 8kg pecorino wheels into Birmingham. 

And as the sun won’t set till your sated, pull up a chair on our dainty terrace to tackle our towering 6-inch-tall lemon meringue pie or a giant caramel gelato-stuffed profiterole topped with masses of warm chocolate sauce.

With charm, warmth and, ovviamente, beauty at its heart, La Bellezza will be the ultimate Italian escape for hopeless romantics, lovers and hedonists this November.

La Bellezza will open at Paradise, 2 Chamberlain Square, on 29 November 2024.