The builders are in at Verdi’s. Three and a half months after fire shut the Mumbles seafront café, work has started on putting it back together.
Giuseppe Cianciarulo, the general manager known to regulars as “G”, broke the news in a hard hat and hi-vis outside the fenced-off building at Knab Rock. His opening line: “Hello, we’re back.”
The café has appointed Green’s Construction to carry out what it calls the first phase of the rebuild.
In a message posted with the video, Verdi’s said it was “proud to partner with the brilliant and local construction company” to bring the café “back to life”, and “even better than before”.
That settles a question owner Ryan Hole raised in September. A tender was then out for a contractor to strip out and refurbish the building, and he said he would “love to use a local company if possible”.
Giuseppe made the same point: “We want the local company, the best company, and they are. I’m very happy that we started.”
When will Verdi’s reopen?
There is still no date. Giuseppe said the hope was to be open “just before the summer, between Easter and summer”.
That fits what Hole said in September: the “aim/dream” was Easter, but it “could be closer to summer”. Easter Sunday falls on 28 March next year.
He said then that the family would only know how much work lay ahead once the strip-out was done. Insurers had by that point accepted liability, clearing the way for the rebuild.
Giuseppe had a message for the regulars he calls his friends: “We miss you all. All my team miss you and they can’t wait to come back here.”
Where the Verdi’s team is now
Until then, familiar faces from Verdi’s are working at The Lighthouse at Bracelet Bay, where Hole has said customers will find “most of your favourites from the menu”.
The Lighthouse is one of the venues run by the Hole family’s Secret Hospitality Group, which took on Verdi’s in 2023 after decades under the Moruzzi family.
Giuseppe has been there from the start. He came to Mumbles from Parma with the Italian team that built the café in 1993, and has been front of house ever since.
In August he filmed a tearful message among the smoke-stained tables, warning it would be hard to reopen before the end of the year.
Fire crews were called to the café at 2.09am on Thursday 30 July. Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said the fire was confined to the kitchen and toilet area, and nobody was hurt.
Verdi’s says it will keep customers updated as the work goes on.
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