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Cardiff has an abundance of restaurants and, if the weather's right, there's no better experience than eating al fresco on the popular Mill Lane. Vale Life chatted to restaurant owner and entrepreneur Giovanni Malacrino on what makes Giovanni's and Gio's so.
UNMISTAKABLY ITALIAN
When I say 'chatted to' Giovanni, what I really mean is 'mostly listened'. Giovanni can talk, boy can he talk, but in a way that you want to listen - he has things to say, passionately. This is a man who is immensely passionate about what he does.
It's 6.30pm on a Saturday evening in July and I'm watching this big hearted Italian work the crowd. It seems that nearly everyone who enters the restaurant or just passes by is a friend, customer or acquaintance of some kind.
Gio's has a fabulous atmosphere - it feels safe. I crack a joke about not needing protection with a nod to The Godfather. He chuckles. "It's very safe here my friend", he says with a big smile. However, Giovanni knows that at the heart of his success lie some very simple and basic ingredients, to which he owes an enormous debt of gratitude - good food, great staff and loyal customers.
I can't help looking at the other diners - four very stylish ladies, have just ordered two bottles of champagne and several plates of oysters. On the table next to me, a family of four laugh and chat while tucking into tender fillet steak and homemade lasagne. They tell me they're here in Cardiff to catch a show at the Cardiff International Arena, just around the corner.
Giovanni is away, working the room like a conductor - he has a natural gift for hospitality and so do all his staff - each a personality in their own right but all in tune with the master. Giovanni's sister Francesca, who is the backbone of the family business is nearby - she watches service like a hawk - making sure customers are well looked after.
"You can come here for coffee in the morning - have a meeting perhaps. We serve food from 12 noon to 11pm and cocktails from 5.30pm onwards, he says." It's this passion for great service that many businesses could take a lesson from.
Giovanni returns, smiling, a celebrity has dropped in with a camera crew - it's not unusual (you'll excuse the pun). The walls of the stairs to the new fine dining restaurant on the first floor are covered with photographs of celebrities who have spent many an evening at the restaurant, including Tom Jones.
Giovanni says, "When celebrities come to our venues sometimes they are happy to be treated as celebrities and, sometimes, they wish to be left alone. I believe everyone has the right to their privacy." He proudly reels off a lengthy list of A-listers he now considers friends as well as customers but I get the impression I'm not being treated any differently - to Giovanni, it appears, everyone is special.
Giovanni is not one for standing still and it seems even having two of the most successful restaurants in Cardiff opposite the new St David's 2 and John Lewis isn't enough. "Gio's is evolving," he enthuses. "On the first floor, there are three areas - Gio's Bar where champagne and cocktails are served and customers can let their hair down and dance the night away. During the re-development of Mill Lane things were tough but it was all worthwhile as I believe those challenging times made me a better businessman and put Cardiff on the map as one of the top cities in Europe."
Conti's are our private function rooms which customers can hire for business or special occasions and our beautiful fine dining restaurant, La Dolce Vita, which is the jewel in the Gio's crown."
You'd think that would be enough for most people but not Giovanni - he leads me downstairs into the basement where work is well underway creating what he believes will be Cardiff's most exclusive members club, Amici's. "It's going to be fantastic," he says. "There'll be nothing to rival it in Cardiff. Guests will enjoy champagne, Italian tapas, fine wines, ports, a great selection of premium malt whiskeys. There'll even be an oyster bar and lobster tanks. Amici's will be the place to be seen and meet like minded people.
Also, you can park in the John Lewis carpark in the evening for as little as a pound."
While we're chatting, Giovanni takes a booking for a private party in Conti's. "Conti's is a fabulous space," he says, "customers always have a great time here. We're already taking bookings for Christmas."
As we climb the stairs into the daylight, Giovanni tells me that his team hopes to open another restaurant in Roath in a few months time - I wonder where they get the energy.
Perhaps it's this overlap of different people coming and going that creates the Gio's atmosphere, perhaps it's Giovanni and his team, perhaps it's all of these ingredients that creates the 'magic' as Giovanni calls it. Whatever it is, it works and, as I sit outside in the evening sun sipping a lovely glass of red wine, I feel I'm part of it.
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