Carlisle's Casa Romana brings back sentimental feelings for Grace Dent

Casa Romana, on Warwick Road, was recently celebrating their 30th birthday when Grace Dent dropped in for a surprise visit with her family to grab a bite of their specialty of British-Italian homecooked food made with love.  

The food writer praised the unpretentiousness of the restaurant, bringing back feelings of nostalgia to be back in the restaurant she would frequently line her stomach in “before an evening’s shimmying to Jamiroquai at the nearby Pagoda nightclub”.

Owner and chef Richard Shannan, who now runs the business along with his wife, alongside manager Andrew Hartley, following the retirement of Toto Porcello, said: “We just thought she was in for a family meal, we asked for selfies and had a bit of chat.

“She said she came in because she had seen on social media we’d been open for 30 years and she’d remembered us from years ago. We weren’t expecting it all,” he said.

Casa Romana, located on Warwick Road (Image: Google Maps)

The Carlisle-born food writer, who has written about restaurants all across Cumbria, praised Richard’s vegan options, cozy atmosphere, happy hour menu, pizza bianco, and delightful mascarpone and mango cheesecake.

“We’re happy with that, she’s comparing us to some of the higher-end Italians in London and the capital but at the end of the day, as she said, Italians like us are the backbone of the country.

“We do realise we’re not out-and-out Italians but we’re catering for the anglicised Italian taste, not to say we can’t do the authentic experience, there’s just not as much as a call for it in Carlisle.

“We’ve seen it all, the highs and lows, we’re on our third renaissance. We’ve had recognition before from industry organisations and various online things recently – but to get officially recognised by someone who knows the score really is rewarding,” Richard said.