There is something quietly satisfying about being involved at the beginning of something. Before the first sandwich is made, before the first customer pushes through the door, before the queue forms down Republic Street (which, if the opening day crowds were anything to go by, it most certainly will), someone has to fit the kitchen out properly. That part was ours.
All'Antico Vinaio has arrived in Malta. For anyone unfamiliar with the name: it began in Florence, in a small shop near the Uffizi that the Mazzanti family has run for decades. It became, over time, something of a pilgrimage site for anyone who takes sandwiches seriously. The schiacciata bread, flat, soft, baked fresh, loaded with serious Italian ingredients, attracted queues that wrapped around the block long before the brand had any international ambitions at all. Saveur magazine once called it home to the world's best sandwich, which is the kind of endorsement that tends to accelerate things.
From Florence, it expanded to Milan, Rome, New York, Los Angeles, London, and Paris. The Valletta location, on Republic Street, is its 56th outlet worldwide, operated locally by Greatt Food Limited. It is the first All'Antico Vinaio in Malta, and we were glad to be involved in making it happen.
What the job involved
The scope of the project covered the supply and installation of all the catering equipment across the site: units positioned with service flow in mind, refrigeration and display units integrated into a layout that has to work hard and look good at the same time.
One element we are particularly pleased with is the custom manufacturing of wall frames for the tailor-made wall-hung refrigeration cabinets. These are not off-the-shelf units. All'Antico Vinaio has a very specific look and feel, and the refrigeration needed to sit within that aesthetic without compromising on performance. The wall frames were manufactured to specification, and the refrigeration cabinets were designed and fitted to match. It is the kind of work that tends to disappear into the background when it is done well, which is more or less the point.
The kitchen itself is what you would expect from a high-volume operation: tight, purposeful, and built around throughput. Every unit placed to minimise movement, every surface considered in relation to what happens next. The display counter at the front, the interface between the kitchen and the customer, needed to present product cleanly and attractively while keeping it at the correct temperature. In a warm Maltese summer, that is not a trivial engineering question.
A note on the brand itself
All'Antico Vinaio is not a restaurant in the conventional sense. There are no tables, no reservations, no long menus. The offer is focused: freshly baked schiacciata, quality Italian ingredients, a short list of options done exceptionally well. It is the kind of operation where the quality of the kitchen design matters enormously, because there is nowhere to hide. If the bread is not right, the sandwich is not right. If the holding temperatures are off, the ingredients suffer. The entire proposition rests on freshness, consistency, and volume, and that places real demands on the kit.
The Republic Street location benefits from one of Valletta's busiest pedestrian thoroughfares. Tourists, office workers, locals making their way through the capital: it is exactly the footfall that a concept like this needs. The opening hours run from 10:00 to 22:00 daily, which means the equipment has to perform across a long service without interruption.
Welcome to the island
Malta is a small island, but it has an appetite for good food, and Republic Street sees enough footfall to give any well-run operation a proper audience. We think All'Antico Vinaio will find one here.
From everyone at Spiteri Catering: welcome to Malta. We hope the schiacciata sells as fast as we suspect it will, and we look forward to supporting the operation as it settles into its new home.
If you are planning a commercial kitchen fit-out in Malta, whether for a new opening, a refurbishment, or a franchise installation, get in touch with the Spiteri Catering team. We handle everything from initial consultation and design through to supply, professional installation, and ongoing technical support.
Related reading: The Finished Result: All'Antico Vinaio Valletta, and a Team We Are Proud Of | From the Kitchen to the Front Door: The Full Festacci Fit-Out | Eight Floors Up: Fitting Out the Cabana Club Kitchen