AN Italian restaurant run by three brothers has been opened in Rainford.
Fabio, Francesco and Valerio Cangemi are no strangers to the restaurant scene.
Their parents established Bella Roma on George Street, St Helens with the trio taking over the business as they became adults before selling up in 2017 – citing declining town centre footfall as the cause.
However, the brothers always wanted to pick up their restaurant roots when and if the right place became available, and with Rainford’s growing independent business sector they felt that their new spot on Ormskirk Road was the perfect spot.
The venue, which has beautiful industrial lighting and bare brick walls with wooden tables, outdoor seating and an orange tree inside, is called Little Italy and officially opened its doors yesterday.
Fabio Cangemi, who also runs an electrical and security company with twin brother Francesco, said: “Our parents run restaurants in Southport then after 20 years moved to Eccleston and opened Bella Roma.
“The restaurant was important to us but with the declining footfall in the town centre, when we got an offer we decided it was best to accept.
“We never put the idea of having a restaurant serving the freshest and best quality Italian food to the public out of our minds, we knew we could do it because we did it for so long as a family, so when this came up we finally decided to do it together.”
The restaurant, which also has outdoor seating, does a selection of antipasti, pizzas, pastas, drinks and desserts and will be looking to do takeout options after being open a few months to establish the restaurant first.
Fabio, 34, from Windle, added: “It’s lovely to carry on the tradition, we are so focused on putting out the best quality food to the people in Rainford and St Helens and it’s a family thing.
“We have our other businesses, I work with Francesco and Valerio runs an MOT business, but this is something we are doing all together which is great getting back to that, we’ve done this place to work for us, and we are proud of that.
“We are so busy already, the support has been amazing, we just can’t wait for everyone to see what we have to offer.”
Little Italy is open from 11am to 5.30pm Tuesday and Wednesday and 11am to 10pm Thursday to Saturday and closed on Sundays and Mondays.
However in the first few weeks as they establish themselves they will be open from Thursday to Saturday.
The lunchtime menu runs to 4pm with the evening menu starting after then.
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