What’s cooking at town icon?
New firm set for Sosban site
AN AMERICAN-STYLE smokehouse will give a new lease of life to one of Llanelli’s most iconic buildings, the former Sosban restaurant.
Cattle & Co is set to add to its current base in Clydach in the Swansea Valley by opening up a second restaurant within the iconic Llanelli building.
Situated in North Dock, Sosban suddenly closed its doors in February 2019 as the owners stated that, “regrettably, some things are just not meant to be”.
Since then, the Grade IIlisted building has remained empty. Now, Cattle & Co has announced it will be opening for takeaways and deliveries in April.
At its original base, in Capel Buildings in Clydach, it first opened as a café in the day and a smokehouse in the evening, but demand for the authentic American barbecue food became so high that it now operates solely as a smokehouse.
The restaurant said that when restrictions allowed, people from all over Wales made the journey to experience its food.
Bosses have been teasing followers on its Face
book page for several weeks about a new West Wales location for its next venture.
The announcement finally came on Sunday evening, with Cattle and Co posting on Facebook: “We’ve kept you guessing for long enough and the team are over the moon to announce our second venue is the iconic Pump House in Llanelli, formerly known as Sosban restaurant.
“We’re working hard behind the scenes to bring a new, relaxed and fun family dining experience to the area.
“We’re incredibly lucky to have these breathtaking
scenes on our doorstep and we’re so excited to move into this beautiful venue.”
They added: “We knew we needed to expand and grow and people from Llanelli often said ‘we wish you were closer’. Then an opportunity came up for this iconic building. It’s perfect and will be really good for the area. The building has got a lot of history and has breathtaking views on its doorstep.”
The smokehouse slow cooks all of its meat dishes, with its menu featuring ribs, chicken wings, burgers, steaks and more.
It is set to bring a “relaxed and fun family dining experience” to the town and says it will create around 30 jobs.
Owner Rebecca Mace said: “We’re so excited to move to this iconic building and look forward to bringing a new, relaxed and fun family dining experience to Llanelli.
“Since we reopened in August the demand for our food increased massively and we’ve had customers travel from various parts of Wales to try our food. We wanted a second venue to enhance the dining experience and bring authentic American barbecue to more areas.
“We are creating up to 30 local jobs and the response has been so positive on social media. We can’t wait to start offering takeaway and delivery in April to the Llanelli area.”
Sosban, which was opened in 2011 by former Welsh rugby internationals Stephen Jones and Dwayne Peel, had built up a reputation for its extravagant menus.
In 2013 it was crowned as The Good Food Guide Readers’ Restaurant of the Year for Wales, while in 2017, BBC Young Chef of the Year semi-finalist Andrew Sheridan was brought in as executive chef. A year later he appeared on the BBC’s Great British Menu.