Slice of Sicily comes to North End as popular Italian undergoes major rebrand establishing Amuri

Major changes are underway at a popular Italian restaurant which has undergone a rebrand, complete with a new menu.

Bella Calabria, in London Road, North End, will now be known as Amuri following the decision to focus the independent business’s attention on Sicillian cuisine.

The restaurant, which is known for its welcoming atmosphere, has been part of the city’s food scene since 2009 where it has secured a loyal following of customers who keep coming back for more.

As part of the rebrand, the eatery has updated its signage and has also introduced a new menu featuring authentic dishes including Penne Castellana, Penne alla Contadina, Rigatoni Buongustaia and more.

Giovanni Vaccaro, manager at Amuri, said: “We are happy to announce the Amuri restaurant. We’ve changed the restaurant to be Sicilian - Amuri is like the heart of food.

Get access to trustworthy local news for just £5 when you sign up for a digital subscription to The News

“The reaction has been good and when we take our food to the table people are like ‘wow, it’s good’ - we’ve had good feedback. We would like to decorate to make it more of a Sicillian atmosphere and we are trying to get live music as well.

“We have already started changing things but we would like to bring more stuff to North End to show people what Italians can do. We are going to have Sicillian wine and introduce a few more dishes from Sicily to bring something different compared to what’s already in Portsmouth - we want to concentrate more on what we can do in a Sicillian way.

“There are many Italians and every Italian cooks differently. Calabria cooks one way, Sicillian cooks another way so we want to bring some Sicillian food to this country to show people the difference - different cuisines and different flavours.

“Come and see what’s on offer. I’m pretty sure if you come in once, you’ll be coming back.”