Popular Shrewsbury Italian restaurant celebrates one last hurrah as owners look forward to retirement

But after nurturing it into one of the finest, the couple are ready to bid their loyal customers farewell as they look forward to retirement.

It’s been an emotional journey to look back at, Patricia told the Shropshire Star.

The married couple, who say they have probably spent more time in the restaurant than their own home, said 1999 was an “exciting” but “risky” time to launch a new business venture.

Patricia said: “It was something I'd always wanted to do.

“I've always been in hospitality myself. My husband was a salesman, and our son, the chef, was still at school when we first opened so it was something completely new to us - and it was a big risk when we opened.

“But here we are in our 26th year so we obviously did something right.”

Patricia continued: “When we first opened, we were a traditional Italian restaurant. After we had been open for a few years, we wanted to show a completely different side to Italian cuisine.

“We thought ‘we Italians eat a lot different than what a lot of restaurants in this country sell. We need to do something different here’,”

Over the years, La Dolce Vita began offering taster menus that still felt authentic to the couple.

“We've tried to keep up with the times as well, because food and fashion and things like that do evolve, and they do change.

“So we've tried to keep our menu as up-to-date and as modern as possible, but still keeping Italian traditions and flavours.”

La Dolce Vita, should the sale go through as planned next week, will continue to bring tasty Italian dishes to the town of Shrewsbury and beyond after its owners' retirement. 

But the restaurant’s final service under Patricia and Luigi will take place this Saturday (March 8) - and Patricia said the couple have “very mixed emotions” ahead of the big day.

Patricia added: “The word I have for La Dolce Vita is 'proud.'

“I'm extremely proud of what we've done and what we brought to Shropshire, not just Shrewsbury.

“I am extremely proud of the food we serve, the service we give. I'm just so proud.

“Honestly, I could cry sometimes when I take some of the food out, I get that emotional.

“It's been a very, very wonderful journey.

“We've met amazing people. We've had customers that have become friends, and it's just been lovely.”

Now, the couple - and their son, 42-year-old Gennaro, who joined his mother in the kitchen at La Dolce Vita at the age of 16 - are looking forward to a quieter life with more time to appreciate the finer things.

Patricia explained: “Retirement is something we were talking about. My husband is 67 and it's very, very hard work.

“We leave home at half-eight in the morning and we don't go home 'til we finish in the evening, five days a week.

“You hear too many people say, ‘when we retire, we're going to do this’, and then something awful happens.

“We're young, fit and able to do things that we want to do - and we want a little bit of normal hours.

“I want to go to the theatre on a Saturday evening to see a theatre show. We'd like to go out to eat in a nice restaurant.”

Learn more about La Dolce Vita via the brand’s official website and social media channels.