Maria

There were More Than 300 Italian cafes in Wales before the second World War , but Now there are only 11 of the same families. Nick Servini followed them to find down, some reach have been important milestones.

With a name like Servini, who grew up in a place like the South Wales valleys, you can get away from the question: is your family a Café?

The Answer is: Yes. To run my grandfather Servini's used in, Aberdare, a place to work where there is a rite de passage to, every Saturday, while a teenager.

the history of The Italian cafes is well documented, As Is their downfall. But there are two other inevitable questions I am often asked: How many Links and which one is the oldest?

The Truth is that no one really knew The Answer Until Now .

Servini's opened in 1933, and is one of only 11 Cafés were founded, before The War , and which of the is still of the same family in the same premises. Under this definition, you can sit next to it:

what is striking is the geographical spread across Wales, the against The Perception that they are mainly in the South Wales valleys. is

That perception is not completely out of place, because in the ten years after The War , there were many Italian families opened in the former mining communities and five remain to This Day :

another Cafe , worth a mention the Royale in Pontypridd, which dates back More Than 100 years and remains open, although The Business the owner has many times changed among The Italian families.

And while The Italian cafes continue to open in the following decades, they are the oldest.

The distinctive date, is one of Sidoli in Rhyl, the trading this year, an exceptional anniversary marked; 110 years.

The company was founded by The Grandfather of Maria Sidoli, Domenico, who came up with the great majority of Italians in Wales at the time, from the Small Town in The Mountains of Northern Italy by the name of Bardi.

It was a classic example of what became known as the chain migration, where the close links between the different parts of The World .

And in this case, A Number of successful cafes have been established, and the word was sent back to Italy, and that help was needed.

Over the Generations , hundreds of cafes, restaurants, Ice Cream parlours and fish and chip shops sprang up, especially in former mining communities, but also along the coast.

Mary continue to run the small Cafe on the Wellington Road maintain The Unbroken family tradition.

While Maria 's father and grandfather were interned on The Isle of Man, as the majority of Italian men cafes run in the UK, her three aunties and held it up to the end of The War .

"It's a bit like a classic novel of The Cafe ," said Mary.

"It is still used, in The Present , as it was 60 years ago.

"We get expats, people who have emigrated to America, Australia and New Zealand , and they come back after 25 years, and we are probably the only Thing you can identify. "

She Said : "My Mother has been 61 years in the restaurant business and my dad, The Best part of 60 years, so they had the 120 years between them.

"she came here as children, and it is part of the fabric of your life and, for a lot of people, it is with happy memories, hopefully, and that is a good Thing . "

is One of the ironies about The Decline in The Number of original Italian cafes, that it occurs during the Coffee has become Big Business on The High street.

An interesting side note is that, while nearly all of those who have started this Welsh cafes came from Bardi, Two Brothers that originally started from a neighboring town, what was Britain's largest Coffee chain, Costa.

But Maria contrasts the intimacy of your Cafe with the big chains: "It is a very different experience and people who value different experiences," she says.

"Some people don't want to be asked how you are, or you don't want to be called by their first names, the anonymity.

"But some people like The Personal touch. It is to your own psyche. "

Another great milestone was achieved by Cresci in Skewen, near Neath, as the original business opened, 100 years ago.

It did move six doors down the road in the year 1947, but in The Eyes of The Villagers , it was the same Cafe .

John Cresci, 80, it helps with his sons Robert and Joseph.

He was born above The Shop and is reminiscent of the heyday of the existence of three pits, the meant is in the vicinity, to hundreds of mountain people walk past twice A Day .

And they inevitably showed up to help cigarettes or chewing tobacco buy, you deal with the dust of the U-Bahn.

on the question of longevity, he said: "you are a part of The Village , part of the site.

"you are born here and go to school here. I know the customer all your life. You can't beat that, can you?

"There are clients who are friends and there are not customers that you want as friends, but I'm going to have to pay her. "

The current custodian of the Servini's in Aberdare is my cousin, Marino.

he said that He did not intend to run, and The Shop had a course in hotel management before his father put pressure on him to run The Business as he approached the rest.

He Now has to go The Business up for sale as his children in the various professions.

"We already have a few recessions in my time, the striking miners, when I took over first, and hits people hard," he said.

"In the last 10 years, we have had The Internet and trade-off towns and cities has taken.

"But you could say," I have saved a bit of money on The Internet and I come into the city, a bit of shopping and a Cup of Coffee .

"people have more leisure time these days. We get a lot of cyclists come here with their wheels on the outside. Things have changed, but you will have to adapt to the changes," said Mario.

"Eighty percent of our customers are regulars. We know their faces. We know you by name, and this is how The Business survives.

"know When you come back, we give them something they actually want.

"people come here to have a chat With Us . There are quite a few people who don't see anyone all day, unless you come to The Cafe . "

And there, in a nutshell, is the story of The Italian cafes in Wales.

walk in these cafes is like walking into a piece of history.

In many cases, you will be a great legacy of Wales' industrial past.

But they are also vibrant, thriving company that have become part of the fabric of the communities in which they have served for Generations .

Source of news: bbc.com