There’s a small slice of southern Italy being served up in a very English-sounding street in Maidstone.

Independent restaurant La Villetta opened a few weeks ago in Pudding Lane, offering a taste of the Mediterranean for food lovers in Kent.

It’s been a long-held ambition for partners Angelo Napoleone, who is Italian, and Isabelle Decuypere, who is French, who met while working at Simply Italian in Rochester High Street, where Angelo was head chef.

Angelo, who has worked in kitchens in Soho, Australia, New York and Spain, said: “We have had this passion about opening a restaurant for about five years. We were just looking for the right place – not too big and not too small – just right for us.”

It took around six months to secure their current base – helped partly by the fact that Isabelle was smitten by the name, Pudding Lane.

Previously home to La Dolce Vita coffee shop, which had been closed for five months, they have refurbished it into a stylish but relaxed space, with help from family, complete with a small feature bar area, stocking good quality wines.

It’s hard work for the pair, who also have sons, aged five and one, and are running the 44-cover restaurant themselves, although they hope to take on staff in the coming months. They also plan to expand to the first floor for bigger parties and also plan to move their family from Rochester to Maidstone.

“I have always worked in the kitchen,” said Angelo. “A nice independent restaurant will make a difference to the people – people really appreciate an independent restaurant. It is exciting for both of us. You just do your best and because we love it, for us it is a pleasure. When I wake up in the morning I am tired but I am happy to be here.”

Specialising in fish dishes, Angelo also prepares all his own homemade pasta. And he is passionate about the ingredients he uses.

“When you go abroad to Europe you have this European feeling of the food and the wine and the atmosphere – that is what we want. The quality of the ingredients is so important to that. I hope to celebrate the ingredients.”

Dishes range from nibbles and sharing plates to “rapid lunches” of focaccia with mix leaves and chips, and a choice of fillings, while mains include such goodies as Ravioli granchio e gamberi – homemade pasta filled with crab meat and tiger prawns, sauce Americaine and cream for £11.50, brasato di agnello – slow cooked lamb shank, red wine and redcurrant sauce with potato dauphinoise for £13.95 and risotto funghi e porcini – risotto, mascarpone, walnuts and wild mushrooms for £9.95.

Although early days, feedback has been good: one Italian family ate there once – and booked their wedding reception there, after being impressed with the authentic food.

More food and drink news in Kent

DETAILS

La Villetta is at 8 Pudding Lane, Maidstone. It is open from 10am Tuesday to Saturday and from 11am on Sundays.

To book, call 01622 673759. You can also follow them on Twitter at @lavillettaresto or like the Facebook page at facebook.com/lavillettamaidstone

The seasonal menu will be updated regularly.