“I should ask you to put on hard hats”, Enzo said with a wink as he moved the chain across the foot of the stairs.

We’ve had a lot of opportunity to sit and study the Caffe Piccolo recently. After the months behind the builders hoardings it emerged with a clean, uncluttered interior and a cheerful, attentive staff.

There is an understanding that a successful restaurant should have a sense of theatre, be well managed and efficient and the owners of Caffe Piccolo do just that.

Tonight we met the owner Ali and his manager Enzo and found ourselves upstairs admiring the finishing touches to their new wine bar. It looks like it will be as well finished, and as popular, as the restaurant downstairs.

“We had an old couple in here the other day with a picture of this place when it was a snooker club”, said Enzo, getting rather too close to the unprotected stairwell for my liking. I can vaguely recall my Father saying he used to drink here in his youth and I wonder what the next floor up looks like. “I’m going to have an office up there”, Enzo tells me as we walk back downstairs.

“You want some Limoncello ?”, he asks as we settle into the large leather sofa.

“You do fresh sandwiches at lunchtime, don’t you?”, I ask wondering if Enzo will have WiFi.