Allegretto restaurant was founded by the current owner Ed Shelton, a Londoner, with his then wife, Chilean Carolina Dorr, in December 2004. The couple – a journalist and a photographer – had no previous experience in restaurants, but were looking for something different to do, having moved to Chile two years earlier with their two small children.
Allegretto started life as a small delicatessen selling marmalades and chutneys, but also ice cream cornets and takeaway pizza. The recipes for the dough, tomato sauce and specialty toppings were developed by Edin a three month period at the end of 2004 during which the family ate pizza virtually every day.
The first item bought for the new business was an antique Coca Cola fridge for $70,000 chilean pesos (about USD $140,000). It was found in the back room of a second-hand store in Valparaiso, amongst hoards of dusty old equipment waiting to be mended or thrown away. The fridge is probably about fifty years old but has never needed a moment’s attention, while everything else in the restaurant has broken down and been replaced umpteen times!
In 2005 with the pizza proving more popular than the jams, Allegretto became a restaurant, with an alcohol licence and tables for eating-in. To make things more interesting, a 1961 AMI Continental vinyl juke box was bought for $800.000 (about USD $1500) in Santiago, and a bar football table was also installed.
Growth occurred bit by bit as the old house in which the business was started was modified to hold more tables and an expanded kitchen. With business thriving, a second floor was added in 2007, and in 2009 the attic was converted to make office space. Allegretto now has seating for around 50 people, and regularly hosts events and parties for large groups.
As the business has grown physically, so has the menu. Ed´s original range of six pizzas has become twelve, while gnocchi, risottos and salads have also been added. Finally in 2011, a lunchtime menu was added, a departure from the pizzas for the first time, with three courses and an aperitif offered for $4500.
The lunchtime menu brings in a clientele of business people from the financial sector of the town, to complement the mix of locals and tourists that use it in the evening. The restaurant also has a set menu for New Year’s Eve, a dinner that is followed by the legendary Allegretto New Year’s Eve Party. Among the other annual events is a bar football championship, held every Easter.