A RESTAURATEUR forked out £120,000 on a major revamp of a popular Italian restaurant... only for a two-month lockdown to stop his grand plans in their tracks.

Salvatore Burzotta had splashed the cash on transforming the popular opera-themed Pavarotti Italian restaurant in Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff into a new Italian restaurant named Basilica before the coronavirus lockdown.

Echo:

He took over full running of the site after the previous owner who rented the venue from Mr Burzotta left the site in January.

Mr Burzotta, who has been freeholder of the prominent site since 1993, said: “We’ve got all new equipment and decor inside and will be serving Italian food and all different kinds of pizza.

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“We’ve spend about £120,000 and now it’s all ready to reopen but now we’ve just got to see what’s going on with the coronavirus.”

He added: “We were ready to open for Mother’s Day in March and had taken some bookings so it was going to be a good start for us.

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“I do feel a bit annoyed about the fact we cannot open, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

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Mr Burzotta added: “We can still seat about 70 or 75 people in the restaurant and it’s now a little bit bigger in the restaurant.

“We have also made the entrance a little bit smaller. Everything is brand new inside and we have used Venetian plaster inside.

“It’s all going to be homemade and great Italian food including steak and fish and homemade pasta.

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“I have been in the restaurant industry all my life and my family are also in the business too.”

The 69-year-old had actually retired from being a hands-on restaurateur but when it was decided the leaseholder would not be continuing beyond January, he stepped back into the breach.

Mr Burzotta said: “I didn’t think I would be coming back to running a restaurant as I had retired but I feel it’s now time to come back.”

He said it’s just a waiting game until businesses like his are given the go ahead to open from the Government.

The grand building was constructed in 1901, and it started as The Capital and Counties Bank Ltd, and in 1929 became a Lloyds Bank.

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In 1993 it was first transformed into a restaurant and retains many of its original features including the high ceilings and basement vault.