One of the oldest established Italian family businesses in Newcastle is to expand its operations with a �250,000 investment in a new caf�.

The De Giorgi family runs The Gusto Group, operators of Paradiso, Popolo, Intermezzo and Secco on Pilgrim Street in Newcastle. Now the family is set to expand its Secco outlet, currently a first floor bar and second floor restaurant, to take in the building�s ground floor too.

The three De Giorgi siblings, Joseph, Cristina and Aldo, are marking the 50th anniversary in Newcastle this year, and are investing substantially in completing the Secco venue they opened in October 2004.

Cristina said: �We rent out the premises next door to Secco to a printing firm, but in October, we are getting that space back, so we can extend Secco on the ground floor.

�At the moment there is a first floor bar, and a second floor restaurant � but now we will have a ground floor restaurant and a first floor caf�, open seven days a week, and then the second floor restaurant as before. The restaurant is fantastic but small and now the caf� will have a southern Italian offering on a relaxed, informal basis.�

Cristina added that the common strand through all the premises is that they will use organic, local produce wherever possible.

Photo caption: Aldo, Cristina and Joseph De Giorgi. Directors of The Gusto Group.

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