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Fri 25 Jan 2008
Why I love Leeds
I’m originally from a small Italian island called Ischia, and I moved from London to Leeds in 1994, which was a bit of a culture shock. In London, everything is now — you want it and it happens — but here everything was ‘in a few days’ or ‘next week’. Having just been in London, where even the shortest journey takes about an hour, when people were complaining about traffic in Leeds in ’94, I’d think, “You have no idea what you’re talking about”, but then I started to like how laidback it was. At that time the only places you could eat out were Bibis and The Flying Pizza. There was very little choice, and this was one of the reasons I opened Casa Mia. Now it’s wonderful how much choice we have. I find it quite difficult to eat out because I own restaurants, but the restaurant scene in Leeds is amazing now. We started opening restaurants in 1998 and it was quite a gamble. In the beginning we were open five days a week in Chapel Allerton, and on the Mondays and Sundays that it was closed I used to come here, and next door was boarded up, and there was no one about and it was just like something out of a Western — I almost expected to see some tumbleweed rolling down the road. Most people gave us six months — but we started alfresco dining in Leeds. We were the first place to have outdoor heaters and we had to battle with the council to get a canapé. It’s gone from one extreme to the other. Everyone wants a piece of Italian cuisine, and it’s going to reach saturation point soon. Running a restaurant is hard work, and not as glamorous as people think, so it’s great living in a place so close to beautiful countryside and a well-connected airport.
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