We begin by speaking to Giuseppe Vannucci, head chef at seafood restaurant Al Molo in Dorchester. IT'S a remarkable feat that Al Molo has become the number one-rated restaurant in the county town on popular review website TripAdvisor while its head chef has been recovering from treatment for stage four head and neck cancer. Despite losing some of his ability to taste and to speak - and now having to eat a liquid diet - Giuseppe Vannucci’s passion for creating some of the most raved about seafood dishes in the area kept him working at the restaurant throughout his cancer treatment.
He and co-owner Tim Newton have forged an enviable word-of-mouth reputation in Dorset that draws diners to Al Molo, in the historic 17th century Judge Jeffreys Lodging House in Dorchester's high street. Giuseppe Vannucci (Image: Supplied) Come July this year the restaurant - which has a strong focus on local catches combined with traditional Italian cuisine - will have been in Dorchester for two years. READ MORE: ' 7 things about Dorset only local residents would know' It first opened at the Pier Bandstand in Weymouth in 2015 and the move to the county town felt right, Giuseppe and Tim say, because there was a gap in the market for an independent seafood dining spot like Al Molo.
“We decided to come to Dorchester because there wasn’t a fish restaurant in the town and I’ve always wanted a fish restaurant – that was my dream,” Giuseppe said. Scallops Al Molo style (Image: Supplied) “A lo.