WHEN Edoardo Tatangelo was called upon to rescue the floundering Rustico he took a gamble.

Never one to dillydally, in February he resigned from one of Mayfair’s swankiest eateries and turned down an offer to run a Michelin star restaurant - all in one fell swoop.

The stakes were high; the Italian restaurant’s future success, or demise as the case may be, rested solely on his shoulders.

Just two months later, Rustico relaunched under a fresh guise, complete with a new team and menu boasting traditional recipes direct from mama's kitchen.

“I like a challenge and it was a big one,” says the 27-year-old with a smile. “I was offered a job as manager in Michelin star restaurant but I wanted to be able to change a place around, make a restaurant as good as it could be. I’m on my own and there is a lot of work but I love to be busy and dealing with the headaches; I’m a problem solver.”

Edoardo grew up in Sora, near Rome amid the hustle and bustle of the family restaurant, where he worked as a waiter. An aspiring chef, he dreamt of honing his skill in the kitchen but was passed up for the opportunity in favour of his cousins.

Undeterred, he left the business at the age of 17 for the seaside town of Sperlonga in the hope of joining a small kitchen.

“I always had an entrepreneurial mind and my dream was to work in a kitchen. My mother worked front of house and my aunt worked in the kitchen so she trained her sons. So I left home and went to Sperlonga and found a job the day I arrived washing up for a four-star hotel. The next day they needed a waiter so I did it and after a month I was head waiter. It came quite naturally to me.”

Followed a spell managing a restaurant in a university town during the busy winter season. He eventually left to travel across Italy. During that time, he befriended British tourists who invited him to visit their hometown of Swindon for a week-long holiday. He had just turned 19 when he made the journey from Italy – his first trip to the United Kingdom.

“I decided to stay. I texted my parents telling them I wasn’t coming back. I went to Fratello’s and they gave me a job as a waiter – I couldn’t speak English then but I wanted to learn. I worked my way up and eventually I became manager.”

after a managing stint in Australia, he joined Novikov in London. He was being groomed to become junior manager when he was approached to take the helm at a Michelin star restaurant..

He turned down both prospects to return to Swindon and reinvent Rustico as a force to be reckoned with on Swindon’s gourmet scene.

Edoardo’s first challenge was to surround himself with “passionate” staff. This prompted him to seek out Gennaro Stigliano, a Stroud-based chef whose reputation for innovative presentation preceded him.

“I was here to turn the restaurant around. Some staff didn’t have the passion. If you don’t have it you can’t succeed. I knew Gennaro was passionate about cooking. He had worked in Venice for a four-star hotel before coming to the UK. He had been offered a role somewhere else for more money and less hours when I called him. But he’s like me he wanted a new challenge.

A father first and foremost, Gennaro moved to the UK two years ago when his son decided to live in England and learn the language. “It was a good opportunity,” says Gennaro, who hails from Caserta, near Naples. “I came to England to be with my son and also for a challenge. I wanted to introduce English people to traditional Italian food. Coming to Rustico has been a lot of work but I’m confident we’re going in the right direction. If we are good and the food is right there is no reason why it shouldn’t go well.”

Transforming Rustico meant doing away with the old menu, introducing exciting recipes - unlike anything served elsewhere in Swindon - and the all-important meat section.

“Managing is not just about front of house, it’s about the kitchen, the menu, everything,” insists Edoardo.

“I wanted a menu with classics. It had to be traditional but it also had to be different from other places in Swindon. The old menu was only pasta, pizza and salad; it was quite English. But Italian food is also about the meat. We have pasta but it’s now all homemade, fresh with more authentic recipes. It’s not all about mascarpone and cream.

“We have special every day, fillet steak and even duck. I came up with the menu and Gennaro put his signature on it.”

Despite some promising steps, Edoardo has had very little time to bask in his success.

“When I came here the plan was for everything to be ready by December but we managed to do everything in two months. It was very stressful but we managed. People are really noticing the difference. The customers are coming back. But there is still a lot of work; we need to focus on getting more people in." Rustico, which is located at 96-97 Commercial Road, offers home delivery. For more details go to www.rusticopizza.co.uk/swindon/ or call 01793 251000.