An iconic Swansea restaurant renowned for its stunning views of Bracelet Bay and Mumbles Lighthouse is relaunching with a completely brand new name and look. Castellamare has been a popular name in the city's culinary scene for generations, having once been run by Italian family the Dilulios.
In February earlier this year, we reported The Secret Group, which is run by brother and sister team Ryan and Lucy Hole, took over the running of the much-loved venue, making it one of three restaurants they run across the city along with The Secret Bar and Kitchen and The Green Room. Now the new owners have announced that there is a new chapter in store for Castellamare.
After a month of refurbishment works, it will reopen at noon on Monday, October 31 under the new name The Lighthouse. It will become a multi-functional venue, separated into three different areas.
Firstly, there will be the Bar and Kitchen, featuring a brand new menu, keeping the famous pizzas and pastas everyone is familiar with, but also including a classic fish and chips by the seaside and a selection of fresh bagels throughout the day. In the evening, the pizzas and pastas will be joined by a small plates menu encouraging groups, date nights and social dining. There will also be weekly live music.
Alongside this there will be The Brasserie, a contemporary British menu which will include the restaurant's spin on some classic dishes, with a pledge that the finest local ingredients will only be used, and cooked from fresh. It will be an a la carte menu, accompanied by a cost effective set menu throughout the week. Completing the line up will be The Lounge, a private function room available hire for special occasions overlooking breath-taking views.
Speaking about the transformation, Mr Hole said: "We felt it needed to be freshened up and a new start. Previously it had been run by a traditional Italian family, which we are not. We try and be authentic in everything we do and it didn't feel right to carry that on. Castellamare was run by the Dilulio family who grew up in Italy, and although it has been an iconic name in Swansea, it had no relevance to what we are trying to do.
"We wanted to give it a fresh look and with the refurbishment we thought it was perfect timing. We took over in February and the plan was always to run it through the summer as it was, and to close down for a month, which we did in October, and then reopen with the new look. The feedback has been massively positive so far.
"The venue is going to be broken up into three areas. The Lighthouse Brasserie which is going to take over the old restaurant, and will be a modern British restaurant concentrating on the best local ingredients we can find. Then, we've got the Bar and Kitchen which is the bit we've completely refurbished from scratch. That will carry on doing pizzas and pastas like it has always done, but will include more British classics as well like fish and chips and we'll have a tapas menu in the evening. We're also planning on changing things up a little bit by bringing in some live music and that type of thing.
"Then we've got the Lighthouse Lounge upstairs, which will be available for any celebrations, birthdays, parties, weddings, meetings, anything really. It is really good and will be a three-pronged multi functional venue. It is nice to see our vision coming together. It is something we always planned when we took over and we're chuffed we could finally manage the refurb. We hope that people can support us. There's a cost of living crisis on the horizon and we've got a set menu launching which we hope will be cost effective for people to come out and visit."
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