Sisters Mia and Kristina have finally got their names on a family business with the opening of a new coffee shop and bar in the Swansea Valley. Or, at least the nicknames their nieces gave them when each sister first became an aunt - Mimi and Kiki.
The daughters of Raymond Di Francesco, the man behind Remo's cafe and Franco's takeaway and restaurant on Aberavon seafront, are carrying on their family's entrepreneurial legacy with the new Clydach business which opened this week.
But, sitting at a table in her new cafe, Mia McNab, 49, from Skewen, said it was almost by chance that the family opened a new business in the village after purchasing a property which already had a cafe downstairs. "I wanted to buy a property just as an investment" she explained.
"The whole building was going and it was great because it had tenants upstairs and downstairs. Then the cafe handed their notice in. Rather than just letting it out, somehow we found ourselves here!" You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
The dog-friendly small business will serve coffee, home-cooked meals and cakes as well as "thoughtfully selected" wine and beer. "You can come in just for a coffee, you can come in for a glass of wine or a nibble. But we will be offering a full breakfast menu and we've got pizza and pasta, sandwiches, paninis, jacket potatoes, salads, cakes and, most importantly, coffee," said Mia, whose sister Kristina Wadham, is aged 43.
With modern, feminine decor, hand-picked by general manager Owain Parfaitt, 35, from Port Talbot, Mimi and Kiki's has a "nice, grown-up vibe" where locals can enjoy a drink without the rowdiness of a pub or club. "I think it's an amalgamation of all the things we would want," said Owain. "Somewhere to come with a laptop and have a coffee and cake at lunchtime but also we're probably past the point of going to nightclubs and loud pubs but want somewhere to go and have a couple of bottles of wine in the evening."
Mia, who left her job as a dispensing optician ten years ago to work in the family businesses, said she hoped at first this new venture would be a bit of a break from the hustle and bustle of Remo's and Franco's. "Initially, the plan was for me to have somewhere to go which had a slower pace. But as the bookings are coming in and people are getting excited I do envisage it becoming an evening restaurant sooner rather than later," she explained.
"It would be nice to let the community decide what it is," Owain added. "So if people want it to be a nice lunch spot then we can lean into that, but if people want somewhere for a drink and a pizza in the evening then we can react to that and make it what people want it to be. If we have too rigid an idea of what we want, it's not going to serve the community."
He had never visited Clydach before this opportunity arose, but Owain said he liked it so much he would live there now and was happy to be a part of the high street. "Up and down there's so much negativity about the death of the high street and there being a huge mass exodus of businesses. It's such a shame and it's a really difficult time to be in retail or hospitality but the high street here seems to be having a bit of a resurgence. It's so lovely to see the art gallery and the new tattoo studio." You can find out more about Clydach and its high street here.
Mia added that the positivity of locals had been "refreshing", as there was excitement in the village that her family were opening another business and had chosen Clydach for its location. Getting to know her customers was important to the businesswoman, she explained: "A couple of ladies come into our other place every morning and as we see them approaching, I'm making the latte, the americano and a glass of water because that's what they have everyday. I can't wait until we know what the people coming here are having."
Opening times for Mimi and Kiki's are 8:30am-5pm, Mon-Thurs, and 8:30am-10pm, Fri-Sat.
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