Donatello in Brighton launches takeaway service

Sue Addis, owner of Donatello in Brighton Place, Brighton, said she can’t wait to “see other people’s faces again” and is delighted to be getting back in business.

She said: “I’ve had so many lovely emails and messages from our customers since we closed on March 21.

“We have done some Deliveroo orders since then but now we are ready to take the next step.

“We just want to get moving again.

“We are determined to get up and running and we will do whatever it takes.”

Sue has been running Donatello for more than 30 years and her three sons Leo, Stefano and Mikele are also heavily involved in the business, with Leo working front of house, Stefano as head chef and Mikele working front of house at Donatello’s sister restaurant Pinocchio in New Road.

Staff at Donatello, Ugo Rudy Pendezza and Patrick Cappelletti, are ready to serve takeaways

Donatello will now be open from midday until 9.30pm throughout the week, except on Mondays.

Sue said the team has compiled a revised menu of the most popular dishes and customers can order at the restaurant by reading the menu on the wall outside, or over the phone.

To celebrate re-opening today, the restaurant is offering a special £5 meal deal for all pizza and pasta dishes all day.

Next door, cake shop Cloud 9 is also getting involved with ice cream and cupcakes for only £1.50 and Mediterranean restaurant Vios will be serving coffee for £1 and smoothies for £2.

At Donatello, customers can queue up outside and place an order from one set of doors then collect their meals from a separate area.

Sue has been busy decorating the outside of the restaurant with bunting to let passersby know they are open for takeaway, six days a week.

She said: “I’ve been walking around The Lanes and it is getting a bit more lively around here with some of the jewellers reopening.

“A lot of people have been out and about on beaches, so it’s whether we can entice them back towards the shopping areas.

“We are treading into the unknown so we will have to see what the Government says we can do and what the next step might be with social distancing and potentially opening outdoor areas.

“We are lucky here as we have a large outdoor space, but it’s just going to be baby steps.”

During the lockdown, Sue says she has been working hard to help charities in need of food and doing what she can at the restaurant.

She said: “We had a lot of surplus food when we had to close, so we decided to donate.

“I’ve been taking food to care homes and women’s refuge shelters. There’s so many people out there in need.

“I’ve been coming in to the restaurant on my own and cleaning.

“But now we are all ready and waiting to take people’s orders.

“I’m just happy as I really want to see people’s faces again.”

Sue, who also runs Pinocchio and Street Thai in Brighton Square, says she hopes the other restaurants will be able to reopen again with outdoor seating if the lockdown measures are eased further next month.

She said: “If we are able to, we will open Pinocchio with outdoor seating.

“Unfortunately we don’t know when the theatre or the Brighton Dome will be opening again, which is where we get a lot of our trade from.

“With Street Thai, we are doing a bit of Deliveroo, but we would love to open the big roof terrace and have it like a beer garden, with drinks and Thai food.

“We’ve got all the ideas – it’s just taking it one step at a time.”

At The Argus, we are championing the work of traders during the coronavirus pandemic as part of our #BackingSussexBusiness campaign.

We are always interested to hear how the community is coming together in this crisis.

If you know of a local business battling to do all it can in these tough times and/or offering support to the local community, please get in touch at laurie.churchman@theargus.co.uk or rose.lock@theargus.co.uk.