A historic 18th-century watermill in Co Down has been transformed into a destination restaurant by a Belfast-based couple, with the backing of a world-renowned chef.
Acclaimed chef, author, and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi is a key investor and consultant at Capparelli at the Mill, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant launched recently by Lucie and Carlos Capparelli.
Located in the Old Mill in Dundonald, the venture has been four and a half years in the making—from the couple’s first visit in 2020 to finally opening their doors this summer after an extensive restoration.
Speaking to The Irish News, Lucie and Carlos admit it still feels “surreal” to be welcoming guests to their very own restaurant.
The couple spent more than four years restoring the historic 18th-century Old Mill before opening in August.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
“It still feels quite strange that it’s actually become a reality,” Lucie confesses.
“After so long of talking about it and waiting for it to open, to now see people in the space is amazing.
“One of my favourite things to do at the moment is to come into the restaurant during service and just watch people eating our food and enjoying it – it’s an incredible feeling.”
Lucie, originally from east Belfast, met Carlos in Madrid nearly 20 years ago while on a year abroad from Leeds University. He was working in bars across the city at the time.
“We met quite randomly near the end of my year in Madrid,” Lucie recalls. “It wasn’t serious—we were just enjoying our time together in Spain.
“But after Madrid, Carlos moved to London. Once I finished university, I joined him there, and we ended up living together in London for 12 years.”
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A project backed by world-famous chef Yotam Ottolenghi to transform the Old Mill in Dundonald into a destination restaurant is nearing completion (Liam McBurney)
For 10 of those years, Carlos, who is Brazilian with Italian heritage, worked with Ottolenghi, eventually becoming executive chef across his 10 Mediterranean- and Middle Eastern-themed restaurants and delis in London.
“When I moved to London, I did a foundation degree in culinary arts,” he explains.
“And then was lucky enough to work in some great kitchens, with great chefs, like Gordon Ramsay.
“Then I worked in the Spanish tapas bar in Harrods, where I became head chef, before moving to a Greek restaurant, and then on to work for Ottolenghi.”
However, when the pandemic struck in 2020 the couple, who now have two young daughters, made the decision to move to Belfast to be closer to Lucie’s family.
While they had previously discussed going into the restaurant business together, they believe settling in NI provided them with the perfect opportunity to “actually go for it.”
Capparelli at the Mill is backed by world-renowned chef and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
“After more than a decade working and gaining experience in London, moving to Belfast felt like the right time to do something of our own,” says Carlos.
“When we arrived, we started looking at venues—originally thinking of the city centre. Then I met a baker and told him we were searching for a space. He mentioned the mill.
“We went to see it and fell in love instantly. We saw the potential to create something special.
“Having worked with Ottolenghi, whose food is rustic and rooted in regional, earthy ingredients, this place felt like the perfect fit—outside the city, surrounded by nature. It just clicked.”
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The restaurant features a main dining room, private dining area and a deli shop and café.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
“We’ve just embraced and immersed ourselves in the journey ever since.”
While the couple have extensive experience, and unwavering support from Ottolenghi, who is “thrilled” to be backing the venture, they admit that restoring a building dating back to 1752 has not been without its challenges.
Among the biggest was the discovery that it had no proper foundations, requiring major work to reinforce and underpin the mill’s walls.
“That was a lot of extra stress and extra cost,” Lucie recalls.
“We always joke that it was a bit like doing our very own episode of Grand Designs, which we were actually watching during the restoration, and found strangely reassuring.
The couple moved to Belfast in 2020 during the pandemic to be closer to Lucie’s family.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
“It was just nice to know that most builds, or restorations, will usually take longer than expected, or go slightly over budget – that’s just what happens with any big project.
“But we think it’s all paid off because although it’s been a challenging building to work on, it’s so beautiful, it’s got such a rich history, and it does ‘wow’ people when they visit. I just don’t think you’d get the same out of a more modern building.”
Carlos adds that it was important for the pair to incorporate the mill’s history into their restaurant.
“Everything we did throughout the project was really considered to make sure we maintained the essence of the building.
“Even when we had to take down the walls, because there were no foundations, we rebuilt them with all the original stones, and we’ve tried to include little details like that in as many places as we can.”
Restoration work included reinforcing the mill’s walls after discovering the building had no proper foundations.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
The restaurant is made up of three parts, between the main restaurant, a private dining area, and a deli shop and café, which sells both Ottolenghi-branded products, as well as Carlos’s own eponymous artisan pasta brand.
“I think each part of the building feels nice for different reasons,” Lucie explains.
“With the main restaurant we have the gorgeous glass roof and the floor-to-ceiling windows, where you can see all the wildflowers outside, which makes you feel like you’re in the middle of nature.
“Whereas, when you’re in the shop there’s all this lovely stonework around you.
“A lot of the feedback we’ve been getting from people is that they just want to keep coming back – which is so lovely.”
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The menu reflects Carlos’s Brazilian and Italian roots as well as the couple’s years in Spain and London.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
However, the appeal goes beyond the setting. While Carlos admits Ottolenghi has had a “huge impact” on his cooking, he stresses that he and Lucie have put equal care into crafting a menu which reflects their own story, drawing on his Brazilian and Italian heritage, as well as the years they spent living in Spain and London.
The result is a Mediterranean-inspired offering with international influences, designed to feel both rooted in tradition and open to fresh ideas.
“We have gorgeous pastas like our pappardelle beef shin ragu and fresh rotisserie meats, like our chicken, which comes with jus gras and pink peppercorn aioli,” says Carlos.
“And, of course, we have some amazing salads, which stem from my time with Ottolenghi – keeping the menu quite vegetable-led was something that was really important to me.”
Carlos has also launched his own artisan pasta brand, available to buy in the restaurant’s deli shop.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
Lucie adds: “It’s just really good food without any sort of pretentiousness – and because we serve both lunch and dinner, we knew we needed the menu to offer dishes that people could keep coming back to, and not get sick of.”
Reflecting on the last few months since they first opened, both Carlos and Lucie admit that they “couldn’t have imagined” the response Capparelli at the Mill would receive.
“We could feel a lot of the support and feel a lot of the excitement before we opened,” Lucie recalls.
Carlos, originally from Brazil with Italian heritage, worked as executive chef across Ottolenghi’s London restaurants.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
“But sometimes I think if somewhere is overhyped, that can be the worst thing, because people build it up in their heads and nowhere can ever be perfect. So that was something we were really aware of.
“We’ve just tried to do the best we possibly can and provide a really nice experience for people, and so far that seems to have worked — we’ve been fully booked every Friday and Saturday so far, which hopefully means we’re doing something right,” she laughs.
Dining and Cooking