A LANDMARK restaurant in Weymouth has revealed it will be expanding and opening a new venture in Dorset, which is set to create around 10 jobs.
Award-winning Italian restaurant, Al Molo, which opened its first restaurant on Weymouth's Pier Bandstand in 2015 is expanding and opening another restaurant in Dorchester.
The Dorchester restaurant is set to open in the Judge Jeffreys building on High West Street - one of the town's most historically significant buildings.
The restaurant is expected to have a slightly different menu to the Weymouth branch, with one of the owner's, Tim Newton, saying that it will be a fish restaurant with an 'Italian twist'.
Mr Newton, who jointly owns Al Molo with Giuseppe Vannucci, said at the moment he predicts he will need around 10 new members of staff and hopes to have the new Dorchester restaurant open by March.
He said: "We know the area well and think Dorchester is a great town to be setting up somewhere new.
"Judge Jeffreys is an amazing building and there is so much history there, we can't wait to breath some new life into it.
"We are hoping to open for March if things all go smoothly.
"We are very excited for a new challenge. We have been in Weymouth for seven years now and it just seemed like a great opportunity."
He said his business partner, Mr Vannucci, would take over the kitchen in Dorchester, whilst the current sous-chef at Al Molo, Fabio Guasco, will take over at the Weymouth restaurant's kitchen as its head chef.
Mr Newton added: "The last two years have been challenging - but now that, fingers crossed, we're coming out of the pandemic, we are confident in our new venture."
Project director at Dorchester BID, Phil Gordon, said: "I am delighted to see that they are coming to Dorchester and they they are going to be opening up in one of the most historically interesting and stunningly iconic buildings in the town. It's an amazing place.
"I'm really pleased to see that Dorchester is becoming a bit of a foodie destination and it's great to see that Al Molo will be joining other great restaurants which have started opening up in the area.
"It's a clear endorsement that proves that business people in the area have noticed that Dorchester is doing a lot better than a lot of other high streets in the UK."
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