Having put another pin in the culinary map of Padstow with his celebrated restaurant Number 6, Paul Ainsworth continues to bring different flavours to the already well-catered for Cornwall resort.
Rojano’s is a charming place – like a modern family-run restaurant – and provides intimate booths for people to sit, chat, share and romance. A wide selection of options are available, an a la carte menu, the antipasti list in the grazing bar, a menu for children, coffee and cakes for those who are just passing by and a takeaway selection.
The restaurant offers an impressive array of dishes. Ainsworth’s take on arancini – fried risotto balls, here served stuffed with ragu and served with Arrabiata sauce - is legendary, as is the famed calamari, served ultra-crisp in a basket with garlic mayo. Pizzas are another speciality (thin, appealingly blistered and not too overloaded with toppings) and should cater for all tastes, while the main courses are of the steak, burger and fresh-caught fish variety; it’s simple food, brilliantly executed.
Wine is exclusively Italian and cocktails are available - ideal for sampling over a plate of skilfully-prepared antipasti in the grazing bar. Prices are good and of course the shop means that visitors can be tempted to drop in for something good to take home and instead end up whiling away an hour or two over a glass of something good and a plate of something delicious.
Rojano's is named after its former proprietor, Stanley Rojano, who first envisioned bringing an Italian restaurant to Padstow in the 1970s. Ainsworth and his manager, Paul Dodd, have never strayed too far away from Stan's plan, and even employ Stan's granddaughter, Jordan, as a waitress.
