San Carlo Group is to invest £2.5 million in Birmingham with the opening of a stunning Venetian tapas bar adjacent to its popular city centre Italian restaurant in Temple Street.

'Fumo' is scheduled to open in April and will follow the lines of the Group's outstandingly successful Cicchetti Bar and Restaurant in Manchester, which was crowned Best Newcomer (2011) in the city's prestigious Manchester Food and Drink awards.

The main feature will be a large bar, serving wines, beers and innovative cocktails with live music on Friday and Saturday nights.

'Fumo' in Waterloo Street will complement the original San Carlo restaurant which opened 20 years ago. It will be refurbished as part of the Group's exciting international expansion plans, which last year saw the opening of its second Signor Sassi branded restaurant in Kuwait and a magnificent new venue in Beirut, overlooking the Marina. A fourth Signor Sassi is scheduled to open in Bangkok in May.

In 2011 the award-winning Group also acquired and relaunched the popular Flying Pizza restaurant in Leeds and is looking to China and Singapore as potential new locations.

In addition to Birmingham and Manchester, San Carlo restaurants are located in Leicester, Bristol, Liverpool and Leeds, each with its own individuality and unique style of food prepared by a team of creative chefs and management, supervised by Italian directors.  

"San Carlo is not a theme restaurant", insists Carlo Distefano, Group Chairman, whose passion for using only the finest, fresh produce, much imported from the markets of Milan, has helped ensure the Group maintains its exacting standards.

San Carlo Group also owns the legendary Signor Sassi restaurant in London's fashionable Knightsbridge Green opposite Harrods.