NAWAAB is to re-open the former Ital restaurant on Bolton Road next Thursday after spending nearly £250,000 on the fire-hit building.

The curry house chain have spent the last few months completely ripping out the interior, building a new conservatory and installing new electrics in the building.

The Ital was closed after being damaged by a fire in September 2016.

Nawaab director Abdul Saheed says the new restaurant will be a ‘Nawaab Gourmet’ serving up Kashmiri cuisine with the addition of a grill serving up steaks and other dishes to attract a younger crowd.

Mr Saheed hopes the new eatery will create about 15 jobs to start with, rising to 20 when it is up and running.

He said: “It is a significant investment. Nawaab Gourmet will attract a younger crowd with food like steaks to meet local demand.

“We hope to make it into a successful place.”

The restaurant opens on Thursday, September 13, from 5-11pm on the opening day.

It will then also operate as a cafe bar to cater for the lunchtime trade with snacks, pakoras, tea, coffee and desserts as well as the normal dinner menu.

As Nawaab Gourmet is not licensed, diners will have to ‘bring your own’ drinks with free corkage.

Nawaab was founded in Manor Row, Bradford, in 1988, and currently has a restaurant in Tong and also operates other branches in Yorkshire as well as in Spain.

The chain run by restaurateurs offers a large range of dishes available in lamb, chicken, seafood and vegetarian options and a selection of children’s dishes.

The Ital restaurant was a popular Italian restaurant that was forced to shut unexpectedly in September 2016 after arsonists started a fire in the dining area, causing damage to the building and severe smoke damage throughout the restaurant.

No-one has been prosecuted for the attack, and the restaurant has been shut ever since, with owners Aldo and Christian Devittoris exploring new business interests.

The building is owned by brothers Christian and Aldo Devittoris, and following the fire, Aldo said he and his brother wanted “a fresh start”, so put the restaurant up for rent in January.

Aldo now runs Aldo’s Italian in Greengates, while Christian has set up his own catering equipment maintenance firm, ERL Catering Engineers.