Restaurant chain rejected by Dragons’ Den to open 100 new branches

Pasta Evangelists took a verbal pummelling from Jenny Campbell in 2018

Founded by Alessandro Savelli and Finn Lagun in 2016, the Italian-fused company is reportedly set to invest £30 million into new restaurants, creating up to 1,500 jobs (per Sky News).

Hopes are for 100 branches to open their doors in the next five years across the UK, with three in Fulham, Queensway and New Oxford Street already in development.

The business also offers its subscribers a smorgasbord of pasta dishes delivered to their homes.

"The demand for our fresh, beautifully cooked artisan pasta is growing," Savelli went on to boast. "Our intention is to become the UK's fastest-growing, casual dining hot spot and the hottest place to eat for pasta lovers of all ages.

"Sustainable growth has always been our plan. The hospitality industry is going through tough times at the moment, but we are confident that our business model is robust and dynamic, and the proof of this is we have already bucked the trend with the confirmed opening of five more restaurants in the space of three months, and more to come."

Now worth approximately £40 million, Pasta Evangelists was ruthlessly condemned by the Dragons line-up after their televised pitch.

Savelli and Lagun asked for £75,000 investment in return for 2.5% ownership, leading Campbell to label the pair "delusional" in her feedback.

In conversation with The Sun back in 2023, co-founder Lagun laid into the fellow entrepreneur's attitude.

"I was 24 years old when I went on Dragons' Den, so for a seasoned entrepreneur like Jenny Campbell to call me 'delusional' and a 'disaster' was so vicious.

"At one point she said, 'I like it' and I replied, 'Thank you', only for her to say, 'I like it because it's a brilliant business lesson in how not to set up and run a business'.

"I was mortified, I felt like an idiot having grinned at her and thanked her. She was deliberately trying to take me for a ride for entertainment."