Welcome back Il Vino! Hertford Italian reopens with new look

Hertford’s popular Italian restaurant Il Vino re-opened in February after a four-month closure while renovation works were undertaken on the historic building in St Andrew Street. The reopening revealed a fresh new look for the family restaurant whose owner Vini Shahaj also owns Il Vino café and the more recently-opened Market Bar, both in Fore Street. The restaurant retains its warm, welcoming ambience with its oak beams (now painted white) and exposed brickwork continuing to give it the feel of an established trattoria but with a new layout, flooring and lighting, along with a new palette of colours on the walls, bringing a brighter, more modern feel.

The re-siting of the bar and a new layout for the tables has created a more spacious restaurant which is being appreciated by diners especially those accompanied by children for whom coincidentally, Il Vino offers a great value kids’ menu with a pizza or pasta dish, ice cream and drink for just £7.95. For adults there’s a new menu too to coincide with the re-opening and to mark the restaurant’s

10th year in the county town. It’s slightly smaller and lighter in terms of the style of dishes, in keeping with modern trends. But old favourites have been kept with a good selection of starters followed by risotto, pizzas, pasta dishes (including two al forno options of traditional homemade lasagne and an aubergine parmigiana), grill and fish dishes. Whatever your preference for an Italian meal – from a quick pizza or bowl of pasta after work to a three course intimate meal with bottle of Italian wine on a special occasion, there’s something to suit everyone here and still at really accessible prices. Pizza and pasta is around the £11-£14 mark, and fish and grill dishes, with the exception of steak, all well under £20. Combined with homemade desserts, a good wine list and the friendly but professional service that has made this restaurant so popular for the past decade, everything’s looking perfect for another ten years to come!

Il Vino

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