By Michelle Sit Aboha
A lethal combination of Brexit and the pandemic has significantly affected the opening of Brutto, one of the most popular restaurants in London, the Italian owner said.
Russell Norman, 56, is a well-known restaurateur who decided to come back to the scene opening a new restaurant in Farringdon, Clerkenwell: The Brutto Trattoria.
“Brutto” (which comes from the Italian sentence “Brutto ma Buono” (ugly but good), is an Italian restaurant that focuses on promoting the Tuscan cuisine of Florence and Siena.
But despite the name, the food is anything but ugly. The Guardian called it the “exceedingly good Italian we didn’t know we needed” and since its opening in September 2021, it has been fully booked.
Despite this incredible success, Norman had to face not one, but two unprecedented events: the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.
A “challenging” year for hospitality
“The last year has been very challenging for hospitality, and Brexit is very challenging for me personally because I always felt like a European,” said Norman, sitting at a table outside the restaurant.
“And so, for the government to decide to have a referendum and from that referendum to go on the wrong way because of lies and because of missing information, and because of a xenophobic attitude that the British public has, I feel really hurt and I feel very emotional about it.
“Because the British government denied to me my European status, I wanted something that connected me again with Europe and in particular Italy.”
Norman added that the pandemic only added to his woes.
“Then the pandemic came along, which obviously nobody could have predicted. And so, I spent over a year not doing anything. I was only writing a few recipes here and there, and you know, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to bring Europe to the UK,” said Norman.
End in sight?
Now that the pandemic may be coming to an end, Norman’s problems are still not over. One of the biggest challenges he is facing now is a lack of staff – which he believes has been exacerbated by both Brexit and the pandemic.
“One of the reasons is because the British government created a hostile environment for foreign nationals and made it very difficult for people to settle here after Brexit. But also, the pandemic sent a lot of European nationals back home and they haven’t returned,” said Norman.
In November, about one-fourth of London’s pubs and restaurants were forced to shut down due to a lack of hospitality workers, according to the Independent.
The paper said there were over 200,000 vacancies in the hospitality industry alone, and it predicted that the number would only worsen before it would improve.
“I would suggest to those managers and restaurant owners, you know, just carry on, try to make a difference and just trade as well as you can…and hope that a future government makes the right decision and allows us to re-join the European Union.”
Despite these circumstances, Brutto is doing well, less than four months after its opening. On any day the tables are full, with customers more than willing to pay up to £15 for an entree of pork tonnato – which has tuna sauce on top – or peposo, a stew made from beef shins.
According to the Evening Standard the restaurant, which can seat in excess of 100 customers, is “a reminder, above all, that there is a beauty in simplicity, smallness and a place where the only grand masterplan is to make sure people leave happier than they were when they arrived.”
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