In “Mille Lire” Silvio Gallo offers his guests exclusive dishes in a modern Italian ambience – right in the Leverkusen pedestrian zone. The restaurant boasts modern furnishings – including a bar and a comfortable outside terrace – and serves freshly prepared Mediterranean dishes and typical Italian specialities.

But opening a restaurant in a multi-storey residential building initially presented a big challenge to the Italian. Silvio Gallo says “The authorities told me that I could only open a restaurant here in the pedestrian zone if I met the strict requirements pertaining to kitchen exhaust air. So we had to quickly find a way of preventing any unpleasant smells produced during cooking and frying from bothering passers-by and residents.”