Interview with Paolo Gaudino, Director of The Pasta Factory from Manchester

LIFESTYLE - INTERVIEW

by Melisa Kaya

If you would like to taste handmade Italian pasta while you are in Manchester, you could visit 77 Shudehill. Pasta Factory, established by three friends from Turin, is waiting for you with all sincerity and warmth.

Alberto Umoret, Elisa Cavigliasso and Paolo Gaudino, they came to Manchester 5 years ago and they started to do what they know best. They are working to present the best completely handmade Italian pasta experience possible.

I talked with Paolo Gaudino, Director of the Pasta Factory, and asked him questions about both the Pasta Factory and Manchester.

The Pasta Factory

Could you tell us about your restaurant and your Chef? What is your overall restaurant concept?

Our restaurant is an Independent Italian Pastificio. We are 3 friends from Torino (Italy) who moved here about 5 years ago and we decided to open something that was missing here in Manchester and at the same time something that we missed from home: a simple place where to eat or buy fresh handmade pasta.

The chef, Elisa, is one of the owners and she decides the menu following the tradition from Piemonte and other Italian regions as well as adding a modern and artistic touch to our plates.

The other owner, Alberto, is in charge of the wines and beers that we import directly from Italy.

The Pasta Factory

How often do you change up your menu? What are you paying attention to while selecting new dishes for your new menu?

We change the menu every couple of months mainly because our chefs always want to try new recipes and develop new ideas and new combinations of flavours. Also, when we change the menu of course we see which are the best ingredients available in accordance with the season.

The Pasta Factory

What is your favorite dish?

Probably our best dishes so far has been “Reginette al Barbera con Ragu’ di Cervo”: Homemade fresh reginette (kind of tagliatelle shape of pasta) made with Barbera red Italian wine served in a tasty venison ragu (that we buy locally in The Northern Quarter) topped with Italian Parmigiano.

Also our customers like a lot our wide range of Vegetarian and Vegan options like :

TRIANGOLI DI FUNGHIIN SALSA AL TARTUFO (N)

Handmade triangular Ravioli filled with mushrooms, garlic, parsley & cashew. Dressed with a black truffle & porcini sauce. Garnished with Piedmont black truffle. (Vegan) (N)

Who is the audience for your restaurant?

Our audience is quite different. Probably mainly couples or families or workers (>25 - 30 years old).

The Pasta Factory

Who are the most famous people you welcome at your restaurant?

For sure Athletes: Football players of Manchester United came for dinner, Boxer, athletes who compete at the Manchester Arena that is just behind us, athletes who run the Manchester Marathon, etc. They enjoyed our fresh and healthy pasta.

What are the most popular traditional dishes of Manchester cuisine?

Wow, this is a good question. We are Italian so probably we are not the best people to ask this question to, but we eat out in Manchester a lot, and there is any sort of food. Probably the most traditional dishes that we tried in Manchester are the Pie (Pie and Ale or Pieminister) and the Sunday roast.

The Pasta Factory

What do you think about advantages of purchasing from local suppliers? What percentage of your needs comes from Manchester local suppliers?

We buy all our fresh ingredient locally (vegetables, meat, etc) but a lot of ingredients in our restaurant come from Italy. We are also part of the Manchester Food Assembly that promote to buy locally. We sell our homemade product through the food assembly in Ancoats every week as well as we partecipate to local market like the Grub market or the market in Sadley’s Yards which promote local products and local small independent business like ours.

If you have only one weekend in Manchester as a first time visitor, in this limited time, what are the best things to do?

During the day is nice to walk between the canals in castlefield or in spinninfield. Then dinner at The Pasta Factory and then spend the night in the Northern Quarter where all the independent bars and restaurants are. If interested the MOSI (museum of science and industry) is really interesting.

Could you describe the importance of football for Manchester?

Football is very important. The Old Trafford is the most visited museum of Manchester and every match there are about 75,000 people watching the match.

The Pasta Factory

How do you describe Manchester in one sentence?

Manchester is a city that is growing a lot and allows its citizens to grow as well, it gives a lot of opportunities.

Thank you Paolo.

For more information, please visit website of The Pasta Factory