Giovanni’s on The Hayes, 38 The Hayes, Cardiff CF10 1AJ (029 2022 0077;
giovanniscardiff.co.uk). Starters from £4.55; pizza from £12.55; mains from £14.95; desserts from £7.30; wines from £28
Places from your childhood age slower than you do. Giovanni’s is a family-run Italian restaurant in the centre of Cardiff. While most of the landmarks of my childhood have gone or become other things, Giovanni’s has been there for more than 40 years. It’s where, in a training bra and polyester dress, I’d come to celebrate family birthdays and exam results. It’s where men with cigarette breath would ask me to do a twirl, as my mum looked on proudly. It’s where I first saw my dad drunk – we had come to collect him after a work do, because he was too pissed to get home. At the door, as I watched Mum help him stand up, I felt like Lisa in The Simpsons looking into Moe’s. That was the last time I was here.
