Festive Faces: Leading town centre restaurant owner proud to have served generations of customers for decades
This week, the Chronicle & Echo is bringing you five features to meet the owners behind some of Northampton town centre’s innovative businesses as we count down to Christmas.
In collaboration with the Northampton Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID), the aim of the Festive Faces campaign is to shed light on the passion that goes into running an independent and the variety on offer if you visit the heart of town.
With Christmas less than two weeks away, there is no better time to support the town’s businesses to sustain what is available as we approach 2026.
The fifth and final business owner is Stewart Wright from Nuovo, which opened to the public on Abington Street in December 2014.
With the founder having already established himself among the town’s hospitality scene with Papa Cino’s and Sophia’s, Stewart jumped at the chance to do something different to what he had already launched.
The aim of Nuovo was to create somewhere that would sit just as well in London as Northampton by being urban, cosmopolitan and to push the boundaries of what already existed.
Nuovo is known for its Cichetti, described as tapas-like small plates of Italian food. The restaurant is run by a team of Northamptonians, who pride themselves on regularly creating new specials to a high standard.
“Every place is unique in the town and everybody has their own attributes,” said Stewart, when asked what he believes sets his business apart from others. “It’s a choice people make when they come out.
“We’ve been doing it a long time and we know the town and people of Northampton. We like to look after people and we’re community-focused. We employ a lot of local people, like the offspring of our customers from years ago.
“We know a lot of people and a lot of people know us, and that gives off a sense of reliability, value and good service. It’s not all about the money anymore.”
Stewart believes that Northampton town centre is better off for having venues like Nuovo as it prides itself as being a “destination”. The founder believes Northampton has “more to offer than people realise” and it helps them to be situated near thriving businesses, hotels, theatres and cinemas.
When asked his favourite thing about running a business in Northampton town centre, Stewart said: “The people. We’ve served some people for decades and their children then come to me. It’s all the wonderful people we’ve served and employed from around the world.”
The hope for Nuovo in 2026 and beyond is to keep going and provide more of the same high quality offering as they do now.
“We want to continue to be relied on by the people of Northampton and be there for special occasions,” said Stewart. “As long as we make their shortlist, that’s good enough for me.”