IT was just how Franco Fantini would have wanted to say his final farewell to Southampton, the city that became his adopted home and where his flamboyant and colourful character became a byword for unashamed enjoyment.
One of the city’s best known restaurateurs, he is credited as being the man who brought the true taste of Italy to Southampton, when he opened his first restaurant in 1973.
Over the decades that followed Franco turned his La Margherita restaurant into a local institution, first at Commercial Road and then at Town Quay.
After the funeral mourners were invited to La Margherita to celebrate Franco’s life with just the kind of party he would have enjoyed.
Read more in today's Daily Echo
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