A Holloway Road-based pizzeria business has announced it will be teaming up with a Brighton brewery to launch its own series of craft beers in conjunction with the opening of its fifth restaurant.
The Italian restaurant is set to join with Laine Brewhouse to launch a selection of beers “with every dough in mind”, which will be known as Birra Cabriole and available in all Zia Lucia restaurants, as well as in other pubs across the UK and on its own website.
Zia Lucia, which was co-founded by friends Gianluca D’Angelo and Claudio Vescovo in 2016, has not just survived the pandemic, but thrived, opening a successful site in Aldgate East in February and set to open another site in Wandsworth on 11 December.
D’Angelo said that their success was down to building a strong online presence. Having launched their brand and products on Deliveroo only two weeks after opening in 2016, the business was already making 30-35% of its revenue through takeaway and delivery services before the pandemic hit.
Their brand centres on offering four different types of dough, including a vegetable charcoal dough which D’Angelo described as particularly popular for its “instagrammable” black aesthetic.
D’Angelo explained that Zia Lucia, which translates to Auntie Lucy, was named after his wife’s Auntie because whenever she’d visit London from Italy, she would “cook for everyone and make friends with all our friends and our community”.
“We wanted to replicate that kind of feeling in London… the concept that we are an extended family.”
While Zia Lucia is still growing throughout the lockdowns, D’angelo said they look forward to welcoming people back to their restaurant for the “homely and personal” experience they set out to create.
