THE man once voted “The Nation’s Favourite French Chef” has been brought in to scatter his stardust over the Manchester’s longest-standing Italian restaurant. Not that Don Giovanni is likely to ditch its pastas and pizzas just yet. Jean Christophe Novelli is to work with the brigade there to create a bespoke special menu to run alongside the restaurant’s existing offering. It will launch in September, followed by a Novelli-inspired Christmas menu.
A big draw, too, will be series of exclusive events at the restaurant including cooking demonstrations and “an audience with” evening where guests will be treated to an evening of food and French fancy with the charming 55-year-old. He looks the perfect fit for a restaurant recently voted the UK’s most romantic.
The peripatetic chef, with a history of MIchelin stars and 5 AA rosettes, is delighted to be on board: “I am truly excited to be working with Adam Karim and his team at Don Giovanni and looking forward to creating a memorable menu based around my French/Italian roots for such a fantastic city.”
The independently owned Oxford Street restaurant was given a £400,000 refurb in 2015 and now boasts some stunning new features including a fresh pasta and dessert station, a spectacular new Italian marble bar, new windows, booths, tables, chairs and lighting.
As for Novelli, he began his exciting career at the tender age of fourteen as a baker in his home town of Arras, Northern France before becoming the private head chef to Elie de Rothschild at 19.
Moving to the UK, he worked in several well-known establishments including Chewton Glen and Keith Floyd’s pub ‘The Maltsters’ before gaining his first Michelin star at Gordonton Mil and opening the Four Seasons restaurants in London. Successful solo ventures, Maison Novelli and Novelli in the Strand, followed.
Don Giovanni, Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 5AN. 0161 228 2482.