A POPULAR Italian restaurant which launched just over a year ago is now weeks away from opening its second Gwent venue.
Fantastico first opened in February 2021 in Magor as a takeaway service but has since taken the Monmouthshire town by storm following the lifting of covid restrictions.
Earlier this year, the restaurant announced plans to open a second venue in Usk, which looks set to open at the beginning of May.
It’s the brainchild of Damiano Argentieri and his girlfriend Angelica Ruifernandez, who both hail from southern Italy.
Mr Argentieri, who first moved to Wales in 2012 to work as a chef in Newport’s Gemelli’s, said it was his dream to run his own Italian restaurant one day, but little could he predict the level of success Fantastico has received since opening.
“We can’t wait to get the Usk restaurant open,” Mr Argentieri told the Argus.
“As things stand – we’re hoping it’ll be up and running by the beginning of May.
“I’ve got my family coming over from Italy for the launch, so I’m really excited about that.”
And it seems that fans of Fantastico are just as eager to get their hands on a table at the new restaurant.
“We’ve had so many phone calls about the new restaurant,” he added.
“People are calling up saying that they want to book a table and we’ve had plenty of positive comments from people passing by.
“We get a lot of people coming from Usk to our Magor restaurant so and I think the people in Usk are really excited about having an Italian restaurant here.”
Situated on Usk’s Bridge Street, the new restaurant has been designed by one of Mr Argentieri’s friend, Giosue Violante, who is an architect back home in Italy.
“The interior, the colours and layout have all been based on my friend Giosue’s design,” he said.
“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to get around 30 people seated inside and we’re also going to have outdoor seating so in the summertime we could have up to 60 people here."
Mr Argentieri has not ruled out expanding Fantastico further but admits the pandemic has drastically changed the hospitality sector.
“I’d say a third restaurant is certainly a maybe, but we need to focus on our Magor and Usk venues for now,” he said.
“The problem we’ve had is trying to find good staff – it seems like nobody wants to work in hospitality since the pandemic, it’s been really difficult.”
The menu for Fantastico Usk is now in the final preparation stage, with finishing touches also being made to the building.
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