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The Guardian // World // Europe

Giovanni’s on The Hayes, Cardiff: ‘The smell of wine and hot tomatoes’ – restaurant review

Sunday 6th April 2025, 5:00AM

The actor and writer returns to a childhood favourite for a large slice of family nostalgiaGiovanni’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 £28Places 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. Continue reading...

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