New Italian street food stall to open in Newport Market

The Italian Job, which specialises in different pasta dishes such as bolognese, carbonara and macaroni and cheese bits, will open this Saturday, March 11.

The stall will replace Dirty Gnocchi in the food court.

Dean Lewis, from Cardiff worked at the Dirty Gnocchi stall for the past year, and when the empty stall was advertised for new owners, he jumped at the opportunity.

Consumersmith (Image: newsquest)

The new Italian street food stall will open this saturday. Picture: Consumersmith

Mr Lewis said: “I have taken over from the owners at Dirty Gnocchi as they decided to leave Newport Market.

"It is my first business venture and when the opportunity came up I took it.

“It is a good starting place for the business, there is great footfall coming through the market which I have seen grown from strength to strength in the past year working here.

“I am excited for it to open, as the market is growing in popularity, and it will be good in the spring and summer I am looking forward to it.”

Mr Lewis has 15 years of experience in Italian food, having worked at Jamie Oliver's restaurant and at Dirty Gnocchi.

Among items he plans to add to the menu are Italian loaded fries, garlic bread, and prawn linguine, along with homemade Italian sauces.

Local artist Consumersmith was commissioned by the business to paint a large mural of Marco Pierre White, which Mr Lewis believes will bring more people to the stall.

He added: “My mate had a mural painted by Consumersmith, so I asked the artist if he wanted to paint a mural of Marco Pierre White which will serve as a backdrop to the food serving counter.

“Marco Pierre White is my chef idol, and I wanted to built a wall to hide the washing up space, the mural looks good and hopefully it will bring people in to see the mural and take pictures of it.”

Commenting on the colourful and finished mural Consumersmith said: “I am forever grateful that people want to commission me to create artwork that heightens the aesthetic of peoples businesses.

Consumersmith (Image: Consumersmith)

The mural of Marco Pierre White painted by Consumersmith. Picture: Consumersmith 

“I have created lots of artworks in and around the city for new local businesses, and it makes me feel more connected with the city and the environment I call home.”

Saturday is a fitting day to open a new Italian-style business, with Wales facing Italy in the Six Nations at the Principality Stadium in the afternoon.

Mr Lewis added: “Hopefully there will be a lot of happy customers and we get the win on my opening day.”