Restaurateur celebrates city’s Café Quarter with Arts Week
CARDIFF’S thriving food and art scene is being celebrated this week in one of the city’s trendiest social spots.
Art Alfresco – Mill Lane Arts Week launched on Monday in the Cafe Quarter on Mill Lane and comes to an exciting conclusion on Friday and Saturday with an exhibition hosted at Giovanni’s Mill Lane Studios.
The famous restaurateur, Pioneer of the first purpose-built cafe quarter in the UK, whose Italian eating spot is just around the corner from Mill Lane, is helping to bring a touch of European culture to the popular cafe quarter.
However, the area hasn’t always been a cosmopolitan attraction.
It was as long as 25 years ago that the street began to transform into the bustling food and social scene it is today.
Once a busy industrial area with an iron foundry, Mill Lane slowly transitioned into a market street with hotels and pubs.
Today, it is one of the city’s top destinations for al-fresco dining, shopping and nightlife.
And part of that change began with the efforts of entrepreneur and restaurateur, Giovanni Malacrino.
He spent months trying to persuade Cardiff council to support his vision after setting up his restaurant there.
He even made a scale model of the proposal and left it at the council offices for planners to consider.
After trading in the area for more than three decades, Giovanni on The Hayes is today one of the longest established independent Italian restaurants in the city.
Business has always been Giovanni’s passion – his parents owned a chip shop in Grangetown called Malacrino’s where he worked as a child.
At age 18 he started running his first VIP nightclub called Fatsos, then moved to America to work on luxury cruise liners.
After meeting a now dear friend “Ron Bird” on the cruise, he went on to open a business called Fox and Hounds in New Jersey.
On his return to his hometown of Cardiff, Giovanni started selling ice cream and soon became one of the city’s best-known sellers.
He then fell in love with a building on The Hayes which housed a cafe called Planters and was owned by Brian Fry. It was the perfect location for his first Italian restaurant, that served authentic, quality Italian food.
Following the success of the first restaurant Gio expanded and launched continentals, Latinos and No.10 nightclub.
And while Giovanni’s restaurant is no longer on Mill Lane, he still has a base there with his head office and cookery school on the first floor.
Art Alfresco – Mill Lane Arts Week continues this week and launches the Art exhibition at Giovanni’s Mill. The opening art exhibition begins at 5pm tomorrow, August 25. Then the exhibition continues between noon and 6pm on Saturday, August 26.
Giovanni would like to thank Cardiff council, St David’s shopping centre and restaurants in Mill Lane for their support.
For further information, visit: www.cardiffartsweek.co.uk.
Giovanni’s is taking bookings for Christmas parties. For more information visit the website www.giovannismondo.com.