Pasta restaurateur plans expansion in North despite Brexit-induced cost hikes

Could sterling’s continuing slide make it cheaper for Northern Ireland’s growing numbers of Italian tourists to enjoy tortellini lovingly produced in Belfast rather than eat it back home?

If that is the case, top Belfast chef and restaurateur Tony O’Neill might need to get ready to step up production. O’Neill’s Thornyhill Group produces 3,000 individual tortellini pockets for his three restaurants every week – Coppi in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter, Il Pirata also in the city and Bartali on the north coast.

His development kitchen, the Pastificio ( Pasta Factory), based in a former linen spinning mill in east Belfast, is at the heart of his growing organisation, which currently employs 100 people.

The Thornyhill Group also operates a café at the mill, which has been reborn as the Portview Trade Centre, and acts as a next door test market so to speak for the group’s increasingly own-produced range, which includes pasta, sourdough bread and pastry.

Authenticity

O’Neill, like many of his current generation of chefs and restaurateurs in the North, is big on “authenticity and quality”.

“I think we punch well above our weight in Northern Ireland. I travel a lot and we are all driven by a blind passion here to be the best at what we do – it is not about replicating an idea, it is about creating an experience.

“I’ve learned in my career that while the food is critically important, restaurants are not just all about the food. Dining out has to be about the whole experience – from the minute you walk in the door until the minute you walk out, it all has to be perfect,” he says.

Last month, Ryanair launched a new direct service between Belfast International and Milan, which tourism chiefs hope will grow visitor numbers to Northern Ireland from Italy.

The dramatic decline in sterling is also undoubtedly helping to make Northern Ireland an increasingly attractive holiday destination, particularly for euro consumers.

According to O’Neill last summer was his busiest yet in the North.

“We’ve definitely been attracting more visitors to Northern Ireland – regardless of what the local currency is doing at the moment. I think a lot of that is simply down to the fact that we have a lot to offer and I do believe that tourism bodies are working hard for us. Tourism NI’s Year of Food and Drink campaign has brought us to the attention maybe of people who might not have thought that Northern Ireland was a foodie destination,” he said

The fact that the North is on the Michelin map – with its two starred and six Bib Gourmands establishments – has also created a certain pulling power as far as foodie tourists are concerned.

O’Neill is not convinced, however, that everything is quite right yet as regards the local tourism infrastructure. For starters, he believes that the strict licensing restrictions are hampering the restaurant trade, putting them at a distinct disadvantage compared to other European locations. He is backing industry group, Hospitality Ulster’s campaign to “modernise” local licensing laws, which would include a change to opening hours.

Next big venture

In the meantime, O’Neill is completely focused on his next big venture, which has less to do with eating out and more to do with giving culinary fans a restaurant-like experience at home.

He is getting ready to launch his own brand of pasta and bread products that people can buy and enjoy at home. O’Neill has trialled the concept in his café at Portview and its early success has convinced him to invest in the project and create new jobs to support it.

He plans to introduce it under the Coppi brand over the next six weeks and his long-term plan is for his new products to be available throughout the island.

“We believe there is a good retail opportunity and we are 100 per cent ready to have a go,” he said.

But while O'Neill is more than enthusiastic about his next project, he, like many other food producers in the North, is likely to find himself under increasing pressures when it comes to raw material costs as part of the Brexit fallout.

Latest research from Ulster Bank this week show that depreciation of sterling against the euro following the EU referendum has reportedly pushed up the costs of items imported into the North across the board.