La Bottega is run by three generations of the family.
La Bottega is a family company supplying fine foods and dry goods to the catering industry. We began life as an Italian delicatessen in 1975. La Bottega (meaning ‘shop’ in English) sold imported Italian food and drink to the local community in Bath.
In the early 1950s, newly-weds Rosa and Calogero Tarallo were amongst the thousands of Italians who travelled to Britain in search of employment and a new life. They settled in Bath, Somerset with their two young sons Giuseppe and Salvatore. After many years living in England they missed the traditional Italian food they had grown up with, so the couple opened La Bottega; a small delicatessen selling fresh and seasonal Italian food.
Since that time, the business has expanded. Joining the company, sons Salvatore and Giuseppe increased the product range and relocated the business to a larger premises in central Bath. La Bottega now provides a wholesale service, supplying many restaurants, shops and hotels in Bath, Bristol and west Wiltshire. With over 30 years of trading history La Bottega has a strong supplier and customer base, enabling it to offer a great product range at competitive trade prices.
We are proud to call ourselves a family business. The Tarallo family still runs La Bottega today and we employ staff from the local area to complete our team.
Speaking of local, we work hard to source quality items from the UK (as locally as possible) in addition to our range of premium Italian and continental foods. Our imported foods are often specialist and unique: many carry the coveted PDO status (Protected Destination of Origin). This PDO label means that certain products (Parmigiano Reggiano, Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and Parma Ham to name a few) can only be produced in certain geographical locations, made to specific (often historic) recipes and with a protected list of ingredients.
We like to think that we punch above our weight: we’re not a big team, but we strive to offer a reliable and flexible service to our clients. We have an extensive product list, but we’re always willing to track down a new product at our clients’ request. Many of the chefs that we work with take us with them if and when they move to new venues, and we really appreciate this acknowledgement of our customer service.
Rosa was 19 years old when she travelled to England with her new husband Calogero. In 1975 she established our family delicatessen in Bath and built the business single-handedly until her husband Calogero left his job to support her. Rosa was thrilled when her sons Giuseppe and Salvatore joined the family firm and enjoys spending time with them both at La Bottega’s new location in central Bath. These days, Rosa still takes care of her family. At the age of 77 she comes to the La Bottega warehouse most days to make sure that the family are fed, and to help serve customers on the retail counter at our warehouse.
Calogero started life in England as a coal miner, and then became a factory worker at Fry’s. Joining his wife Rosa at the delicatessen she established, he quickly realised that it wasn’t just the general public that was interested in our fine Italian produce. In the 1980s he would visit restaurants and cafes selling his specialist Italian cheese along with tubs full of olives and sundried tomatoes that Rosa had dressed with her secret range of herbs and spices. These days Calogero (aged 80) still supports his sons in the running of La Bottega. Dealing mainly with our Italian suppliers, he can be relied on to track down the most unusual products and find our customers a bargain!
After training to become an accountant, Salvatore joined the family business in 1985 and took it from a small delicatessen to a thriving wholesale business. Salvatore’s motto is that we are “big enough to cope, small enough to care” and he continues to be actively involved in supporting our wholesale clients and working with our suppliers. He lives in Bath with his wife Linda and their four young daughters.
Laurent joined the team in 2016 as Warehouse Manager, bringing a wealth of experience with him. As a chef, with an illustrious and international career under his belt, Laurent has a unique perspective of having been a customer of La Bottega’s for over 20 years before joining the team. Through his work at the famous Le Beaujolais in Bath and later through his own award-winning restaurant Casanis, Laurent appreciates the demands of a busy kitchen and is uniquely placed to lead our team of drivers in delivering a service that fits the needs of our clients. In his spare time Laurent is still a busy chef, catering private events by special request. He lives in Bath with his wife Jill.
Mark joined the team in 2012 and is a familiar face to our clients on our delivery rounds in central Bath. Conscientious and friendly, Mark has built strong relationships with our clients further afield such as on our delivery rounds to west Wiltshire. Mark is a cheerful and ambassador for La Bottega and is quick to relay any queries chefs might have back to the office. Passionate about cars, Mark also helps to keep our delivery vehicles in check. Mark is a born and bred Bath boy, and is a proud father to 4 young children. Mark and his fiancée Leanne live in central Bath.
Radu joined the team in 2016 and supports our delivery rounds in central Bath as well as our regular deliveries to clients in Bristol. Radu is enjoying getting to know the many venues on our various Bath and Bristol delivery routes, and is familiar with the wide range of products on offer. His friendly and reliable nature has quickly made him popular amongst our clients. Radu became a father for the first time earlier this year, and lives in Bath with his partner Kazia.
Jo has been working with La Bottega for over 10 years, providing book keeping and credit control support to Sam in the office. Jo is fully qualified in book-keeping and Sage. She is self-employed and works alongside our chartered accountants Dunkley’s in Bristol. Jo has a wealth of private clients in the Bath and Bristol area, and works with us every Thursday. Jo is regularly tempted by the items on our deli counter! Jo lives in Saltford with her husband Steve and three children.
