It all started two generations ago with Jonathan’s bisnonno Don Pasquale who was head of the Pastai in Gragnano, the heart of pasta making in Italy (a short history of pasta making in Gragnano is displayed in the entrance to Bar Frizzante).

 

Pasquale started his first business venture in La Dolce Vita in East Fountainbridge, where the business was regarded by many food critics as “years ahead of its time”.

 

Pasquale then moved to Gilmore Place where he opened the hugely popular Pasquale’s in 1990. The restaurant was a massive success in bringing a wide range of film stars, football players and many well-known characters.

 

Pasquale always maintained the real stars were the regular clients who came every week and who helped make the business the success it was. He had one couple who loved coming to the Pasquale’s so much they had their wedding service in the restaurant. Pasquale even took part in a fashion shoot for the Herald Sunday supplement, such was the restaurant’s appeal.

 

Pasquale found it amusing that people would tell him they were reading a book and the characters would be going to the restaurant to eat, fame indeed! The restaurant’s fame spread worldwide, Pasquale was even interviewed by an American journalist, Santacroce, for the New York Times.

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In 1990 Pasquale settled into a new restaurant: Frizzante Proseccheria offering Italian food inspired by their home in Naples, with a local Edinburgh twist.

 

Today, having taught his son Jonathan his trade, this father and son team combine the traditional and the modern to create a simple yet exceptional Italian dinning experience.