A delicatessen specialising in Italian “peasant food” is threatened with closure despite protests from celebrities and leading British restaurateurs.
Emma Iantosca has been told to leave Campania Gastronomia in Columbia Road by early September and claims she is being denied the opportunity to extend her lease.
Among the customers backing the campaign to save her business are TV presenter Alexa Chung, chef Angela Hartnett and Jamie Oliver’s British business partner Chris Bianco, who described it as “one of my favourite places in the world”. Chung tweeted: “I love that place.”
Other regulars are the actresses Keira Knightley and Julie Christie, while Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner often pops in. Mrs Iantosca said the freeholder, shown at the Land Registry as a firm called Star Parade, has refused to negotiate and insists she move out. When she began her tenancy in 2008, her annual rent was £16,500, increased to £20,000 last year on top of her £610 monthly business rates to Hackney council.
Mrs Iantosca, 38, a mother of two said: “I always wanted to have a small, manageable business serving food from the region of Italy my family are from. It is very difficult to find another location, especially since Campania works so well where it is.
“The landlords are refusing to discuss things with me, I’ve even offered to pay more rent but they are adamant and I’ve been told to go.” More than 600 people from Japan to New York have signed a petition to save the business. Local resident Rebecca Forsyth Williams, 41, said the move would “rip the heart out of Columbia Road”.
Charles Botsford, an agent for the freeholder, claims Mrs Iantosca was warned two years ago when the lease was signed that she would have to leave, which she denies.
