Brothers Nicholas and Pete Karidi’s taverna was built by their father and serves food inspired by their mother
A GREEK restaurant and cocktail bar, built by a father, run by his sons and featuring food inspired by their mother’s recipes, has opened in Cathays.
Nicholas and Pete Karidi are looking after the kitchen of Corfu by Night on Woodville Road which was built by their father, co-owner Prokopis Karidi.
Head Chef Nicholas Karidi, 25, said: “We built the restaurant ourselves. My dad has been a builder by trade all his life and none of the rest of us are builders, but we all worked on it for three or four months.”
The restaurant first opened on the site of the former Sunset Cycles business on December 8th, and their JustEat service opened on Tuesday for those who want a taste of the Mediterranean from home.
General Manager Alberto Sans, 42, said: “There was nothing here when we started, it was basically empty. We built everything: the floors, the toilets, the bar.
“It was really hard work, but it was an amazing feeling when it was all finished.”
The Karidi family have strong links with both Cardiff and Corfu. Nicholas said: “My parents are from Corfu, but I’ve lived in Cardiff all my life.
“My dad came here just before I was born with my Mum (whose family are from Corfu) but she grew up here, on this street actually, just by where Poutine Box is now.”
This is not the first restaurant the family has owned.
“My grandad and my grandmother had a fish and chip shop, the family knows this area very well,” added Nicholas.
“We’ve got three speciality dishes that have come straight from Corfu.
“Fish Bianco, which has an Italian influence, Pastitsada, which is braised beef brisket and uses a specific spice which everyone uses in Corfu and lemon chicken, which is not really Corfian, but we just loved it growing up.
“The pork belly is inspired by my Mum’s recipe as well, she confits it for five or six hours and then we grill it.”
The restaurant was named after a previous Greek restaurant of the same name in Cardiff that was popular in the 1980’s.
Mr Sans said: “We want people to come for a drink as well as eat. The concept is mixing a nice restaurant with a nice cocktail bar.
“We have a band every weekend who play in the corner. We have two bands who play, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, starting at eight o’clock till eleven.
“Sometimes, people after a few drinks start dancing once they’ve finished their meals.
“We’ve been very busy almost every night and we’re hoping with our new lunch menu we can be busy at lunch times as well.”
Corfu by Night is open from Tuesday to Sunday, serves a lunch menu of two courses for £9.90 and serves two for one cocktails from Sunday til Thursday from five until seven in the evening.
For more information, follow @corfu_by_night on Instagram and Facebook, or visit their website www.corfubynight.co.uk.
