Italian flavours in Bear Flat
IMOGEN MCGUCKIN meets the owner of the Italian cafe at the heart of Bear Flat’s community
BEAR Flat has always been a spot known for its beautiful park and stunning views of Bath city centre. According to local history buffs, an early medieval settlement - or ‘berewick’ - is probably the source of the area’s name.
And it is having something of a renaissance thanks to the Good Bear Cafe, a cosy Italian eatery on Hayes Place.
Mauro Matta hails from Sardinia and spent his youth working in hospitality across the Channel Islands and Ireland.
When his friends decided to settle in Bath, Mauro came too and quickly fell in love with the city’s foodie culture.
Although he has now lived in Bear Flat for two decades, his first Italian restaurant was in George Street.
He then decided to bring his delicious food closer to home, and where better to open a cafe than in his own neighbourhood?
Mauro, who is 47 years old, explained how it all started.
He said: “the area is lovely, it’s a nice community. This building used to be a cafe and when the opportunity came to expand, I took it.
“Our breakfast and brunch are a bit international, but the lunch menu definitely has Italian influences - like the Good Bear Toast, which has parmesan and truffle oil.”
Although he has owned the Good Bear for three and a half years, it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that Mauro really came into his own.
“Doing takeaways during Covid was great. It made it so much better for people to have somewhere to go.
“I met loads of new people with their masks on, and now when I see them without one I don’t recognise them,” he said.
Lockdown habits die hard and even now, after “Freedom Day”, people flock to the little cafe every morning just to grab a coffee and read the paper.
“Some even come twice a day,” Mauro laughed.
With the outdoor seating, a perfect suntrap before 12pm, you could be in an Italian piazza as you savour your eggs benedict and Tuscan coffee.
Or if you’re more of a night owl, feel free to drop by on one of Mauro’s “Sardinian nights”, where he brings a little bit of his heritage to the Bear Flat locals.
Ravi Acharya, a professor in biology at the University of Bath, said the cafe was a “real hub” for the community.
The 65-year-old has lived in Bear Flat for more than three decades, and has seen the bustling greengrocer and butcher be replaced by several estate agents.
Even now, as you drive up Wellsway, you could be forgiven for thinking this thriving neighbourhood is no more than a busy junction.
But look a little closer and you’ll find a close-knit network of friends, acquaintances and colleagues - all revolving around the cafe.
Sylvia, 82, lives on Bruton Avenue and said Bear Flat was “the best place in Bath to live”.
Over the years, she has felt herself drawn back to the neighbourhood three times and said that it was a “beautiful area”.
“At first, I lived near the park, on Shakespeare Avenue, in a little house that cost just £3,000 when we bought it.
“It was in a terrible state but we managed. Then we moved to another house in Bear Flat and then here, to Bruton Avenue.
“I’ve been here for six years now and it’s just very friendly.
“We have enough shops to manage and a bus straight into town. It’s a very nice neighbourly place.”
She added: “And of course there is the cafe now - everyone goes there and you can be sure of a good chat.”