After the disappointing closure of two popular Cleethorpes eateries in summer, three friends are taking on the challenge of giving the historic building new life.
Coskun Findik, Selcuk Abay and Rami Al-Hasanayn are set to open ‘Casa Nostra’ in mid-January and will be serving up Italian cuisine. The trio have experience working in the Cleethorpes restaurant scene but have previously focused on Turkish food.
After always hearing that Cleethorpes is crying out for a good Italian restaurant, they decided to take on the former home of Petit Delight and Corks Twenty Eight. They plan to start off by opening the side of the restaurant that was formerly Corks Twenty Eight, and then renovate the other side of the building, which was formerly Petit Delight, to form one big restaurant.
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Coskun, who goes by Josh, said: “I have spent six years in the Cleethorpes restaurant scene and there are great places for food. However, there are a lot of Turkish and Indian restaurants, and locals are always saying they need an Italian as well.
“Casa Nostra means ‘our house’ and we want people to come in and enjoy lots of pizza, pasta and nice starters. The location of the restaurant is what I would consider the best, as it is the heart of Cleethorpes.
“There are lots of nice places down Sea View Street and it is a great area to be. We have had our eye on this place since it closed in June and have spent around two months redecorating.”
Selcuk added that he saw the sign in the window of Petit Delight indicating the immediate closure and was ready to make an offer by the time it was listed. The building carries a lot of history for locals and has operated under The Queen’s Hotel, Gilmour’s and The Rum Runner pub over the years.
(Image: Donna Clifford/ Grimsby Live)
The trio have transformed the restaurant into a cosy space with booths and a picture wall. A huge pizza oven remains in the corner of the open plan kitchen, as does the ceiling of hanging flowers in the restaurant.
They hope that Casa Nostra will open in the second week of January and are bracing themselves for the challenge. Josh said: “We know it will be a hard month because January is usually quiet but we are confident it will do well.
“We are organising an architect to renovate the Petit Delight side of the restaurant, and once that is done, we will connect the two into one big restaurant. We will get there step by step.”
Casa Nostra will open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The new website will be launched very soon, so customers should keep an eye out to book.
