Italian restaurant franchise La Porchetta has introduced a new restaurant design for the chain and it’s been unveiled at the relocated Melton restaurant.

A striking feature of the new look La Porchetta is the use of dividers to create smaller dining spaces in an open, light-filled venue. Warm timber finishes and wall art are designed to create an Italian ambience.

Sara Pantaleo, CEO of La Porchetta, said “We put a lot of work into creating the right mix of a comfortable and welcoming, family-friendly, Italian-style restaurant and the fast, warm service we’re known for.

“We’ve been around a very long time and started to consider a new look. It was a 15 month process.”

The design is not just aesthetic. Digital menu boards are a practical introduction for takeaway customers, for instance. “We review our menus annually and we decided to amortise the expense over a few years, and franchisees can load the digital content we provide,” said Pantaleo.

“We also looked at the workflow for our restaurants, tryng to make them more efficient.”

THE ROLLOUT

While some of the logistical changes will be difficult to incorporate into existing stores, easier alterations such as a colour change, paint refresh and some of the lighter design elements will be rolled out across the network as franchisees come up to their five year refurbishment clause.

All new stores will be liveried in the new design and layout.

Two restaurants in New Zealand are primed for opening, and there is a focus on new stores in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia to extend the network of 72 restaurants.

AWARD WINNING LAUNCH FRANCHISEE
 

Vito Ramondetta, the Melton franchisee, was invited to host the new design and he spent long hours ensuring the restaurant would be open in time for the festive season.

Ramondetta was recently awarded La Porchetta’s Franchisee of the Year.

“It was a real acknowledgement of our hard working staff and management team,” he said.

“Vito and the Melton team won this year’s Franchisee of the Year award because they are always willing to go the extra mile to make theirs a standout restaurant, said Pantaleo. “This year, they worked extra hard to meet tight deadlines in opening the new Melton premises and they’ve created a warm and inviting venue that patrons really enjoy.”

MENU CHANGES

La Porchetta has also introduced changes to the menu, with a larger range of salads, grilled meats and slow cooked meats, including a new signature dish of slow cooked porchetta (pork).  There are also gluten free options.

Feature dividers are an integral part of the new look La Porchetta. Images: La Porchetta