WHEN you think of Italian takeaway, pizza is probably the dish that comes to mind. However, a new restaurant has opened in Taunton that serves Italian pasta as a take-away and dine-in dish – doesn’t that sound great?
Owners Dorottya Riedel and Tamas Toth have created a delightful Italian restaurant and takeaway on Lower Middle Street - IL Paradiso Della Pasta.
The beginning of IL Paradiso Della Pasta
Well, Dorottya is originally from Hungary but moved to England five years ago. Since making the move, she has missed pasta dishes.
She said: “Pasta was available in restaurants or shops as ready meals, but I really wanted a nice pasta takeaway. Sometimes I couldn’t and so that made me think about it.
“I really wanted to open my own shop and work for myself and I thought that the homemade pasta would be a good idea in Taunton. I wanted to make a difference and I wanted to do something new, so I decided to buy a pasta maker machine from Italy and make our pasta fresh in the shop every day.”
When the idea first struck Dorottya, she got in touch with a family friend who had lived in Italy for 30 years. Before IL Paradiso Della Pasta opened, the family friend taught Tamas and Dorottya how to prepare and make proper Italian pasta.
Dorottya added: “I believe to make a nice dish, it is very important to cook it with passion and love. If you enjoy making the food, then people will enjoy eating it.
“In the shop we are not following strict recipes, we are making food with love. I was always good at making pasta, but since we opened the shop I enjoy it more, especially when we receive nice feedback from the customers. That is the real success for us - when we see the people enjoy what we do here.”
Dorottya has always loved cooking and when she was 16, her parents had a small restaurant on the beach. She always ended up in hospitality, even when she was just working Summer jobs. Her first serious boyfriend was a chef, who taught Dorottya to prepare quite a few dishes.
She said: “I always enjoyed working with food and experimenting with it. I mean changing recipes, trying to make them my own. Every time I change a recipe and people like it, it makes me feel very proud. I also enjoy making new dishes.”
Fresh, Italian ingredients
Dorottya’s favourite dish is carbonara with tagliolini.
She explained: “I love it when the pasta is fresh - straight from the machine, with lots of parmesan on top, that is just yummy! To be honest, I don’t think I could live without cheese.”
The ingredients in the dishes are incredibly important to both Tamas and Dorottya.
One of their suppliers is an Italian company who provides their flour, meat and cheese so they can make sure IL Paradiso Della Pasta uses only original Italian flavours. They also use only original Italian parmesan.
Dorottya and Tamas are keen to support local businesses and so also buy all their vegetables from Granny Smiths greengrocers, around the corner from their restaurant in Taunton.
Dorottya said: “Since we have opened, at least half of our customers came back for another meal. For us it is a great success and hopefully we will have more new customers in the future.
“I can say every week we will have both table bookings as well - not just takeaways. This is great because we can get the customers opinions straight away.”
If you would like to find out more about IL Paradiso Della Pasta then please visit them at 18a Lower middle street Taunton, Somerset or call 01823 977941.
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