A landmark restaurant in Somerset may close its doors after 20 years, The Royal Gazette has learned.

The owner of Il Palio restaurant on Somerset Road, Fosco Nannini, has submitted an application to the Planning department to change the building into an apartment and an office.

The application for a change of use at the property was submitted on March 11.

But yesterday, Mr. Nannini said he was not yet certain whether he would close the restaurant and the decision hinged on the Planning approval.

If his application is unsuccessful, he may keep Il Palio - which specialises in Northern Italian cuisine - operating, he said. According to the letter to accompanying the Planning application from agent Michael Tatem: "Mr. Nannini... would like to close the existing restaurant, unfortunately due to a lack of sustainable business, and turn the upper floor into a two-bedroom dwelling unit for the specific purpose of housing some of the staff that work at his other businesses."

In addition to Il Palio, Mr. Nannini owns Pasta Basta restaurant and Pirate's Landing at Dockyard. "Mr. Nannini owns the existing building that the restaurant, Il Palio, now occupies," the letter continued.

"For this reason, it could make sense to turn the lower floor into light commercial and storage, thus allowing him to move out of the present building, which he now rents for office space in Hamilton and move his operations into his own building a little closer to home. "With today's economic climate falling short of many expectations, this proposal makes good business sense and will allow him to concentrate on making his other ventures more sustainable in the future." All the plans are tentative, however, Mr. Nannini stressed, adding that Il Palio continues to do good business.

"It's tough here like everywhere else," he said. "But 90 percent of our customers are locals so we're doing okay."