Wine and nibbles to take the edge off shopping in Horsham

An Italian food and drink retailer in Horsham is offering customers the chance to do exactly that after creating a new bar as part of a major refurbishment.

Horsham Enoteca, in the Carfax, re-opened earlier this month and is now fully equipped with new wine and Cicchetti Bar giving customers a chance to try some of Italy’s finest snacks and wines as they browse the store.

For the small charge of £2 customers can enjoy portions of Italian meats and cheeses, on sale in the shop, which are freshly prepared throughout the day by staff.

Manager Lisa Costello said it was her customers who had asked for the new bar and she was very pleased with the end results.

She said: “We have been here almost a year now and we have reacted to what the public wanted.

“It is amazing I am really pleased with it. I love Horsham and everyone has been very supportive.

“We needed to improve the layout to create more space and now a lot more people can enjoy it this way.

“There is also an opportunity to add a few seats.”

As well as the new bar the shop has also expanded their wine on draught selection adding more wines from vineyards across Italy all available for customers to enjoy.

A coffee machine has been installed and plans are in place to offer a traditional ‘Italian style’ coffee and pastry breakfast although customers will also be able to enjoy hot drinks throughout the day.

As part of the refurbishment the alcohol licence for the shop has also been extended to allow the bar to remain open late into the night as Lisa said she was struggling to get people out of the door when it came to closing time.

She continued: “It is a place for people to come after work or to come to first on a night out before you move on to where ever you are going.

“It is a real shopping experience with the wine bar and Cicchetti Bar and you can also learn to speak Italian.”

The store will now be open from 7am to 9pm from Mondays to Saturdays and 8am to 4pm on Sundays.

However, regardless of the changes, the shop continues to offer their selection of Italian produce including meats, cheeses, pastas and cakes and has also retained their wine bottle refilling service which is something very important to Lisa.

She explained: “My parents retired to Italy about 12 years ago and I have always been a wine drinker and I always used to buy wine from the supermarket. I wanted to know why the wine in Italy was so different when it was at a similar price. It is because local people in Italy generally don’t have the filled bottles we have in the supermarkets. They go to the local vineyard and fill up with their wine. What we have done is try to provide a similar thing.”

Lisa added all the wine is shipped in directly from Italy and none is stored in bottles to keep the same flavour.

For more information visit http://horshamenoteca.co.uk/