A new Italian-inspired cafe has opened its doors at a popular County Durham venue.
Family-run Cavaliere welcomed its first customers on Monday, June 1, at the Durham Dales Centre in Stanhope.
The bistro café is the latest venture from the team behind Buon Appetito in Wolsingham, which has been serving customers in Weardale for more than 15 years.
Owners Admir Meshi, known as Alberto, and Arsen “Sen” Shehu previously said the move into Stanhope marks the next step for their family business as they bring their brand of authentic Italian food to a new area.
He said: “What we have in Wolsingham has become more like a restaurant, where people come mainly for an evening meal.
“This is going to be more like a bistro coffee, somewhere people can drop in during the day for a drink and a bite to eat, but then again in the nighttime.
“The idea is to give people another option, whether they just want a coffee after a walk or to sit down for a proper meal.
"We want it to be a place where people feel comfortable just popping in, but at the same time we still want to offer good, proper food like we do in Wolsingham.”
Front-of-house manager Sophie Weir, 28, said the owners saw an opportunity in the village as it is a tourist hotspot.
She said: “We realised there is not really anywhere you can go out to eat in the evening in Stanhope. With all the tourists coming in and people staying in caravans, there was a gap.
“We wanted to create somewhere people can come during the day for a coffee or something light, but also have the option of a proper meal once we are fully up and running.”
During the day, Cavaliere serves a café-style menu with coffee, pastries and light bites, including traditional Italian cannoli and other pastries.
The café is currently open from 10am to 5pm while final renovations continue behind the scenes, but they plan to extend their hours and include a larger restaurant menu and evening service.
Although they have only been open a few days, Sophie said the response has already been “amazing”.
She said: “We have been really busy, with lots of new faces as well as people who know us from the Wolsingham restaurant coming to support us.
“The feedback has been really positive so far and we are just getting into the rhythm of things now.”
The opening comes after the previous tearoom at the venue closed in March.
Sophie said being part of the local community is central to what Cavaliere is trying to do.
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She said: “I started working at Buon Appetito when I was a teenager and it has always felt like a family.
“It is nice now to be able to offer the same kind of opportunities to young people in the area.
“We have new staff coming in and gaining experience and it feels good to be giving something back to the place that has supported me.”
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