Four Seasons, near the park, is dog-friendly even though one boss is allergic
THE owners of Four Seasons want to bring the love back to the new Roath cafe – partly by making it dog friendly.
The coffee shop has opened on Wedal Road where Gathering Ground used to be, before it was closed after a poor hygiene inspection.
Paul Cook and Anthony Ellaway took over the building three weeks ago. It is their second cafe. Their first Four Seasons opened in Canton at the end of January.
Anthony said: “This one is close to Roath Park and it’s dog friendly. The worst thing about it is I’m allergic to dogs so I have to take antihistamines every time I come here.
“I’ve made my other shop dog friendly now and it seems to work. We just want it to be as friendly as possible really.”
The previous owner closed down shortly after Gathering Ground got a rating of zero from the Food Standards Agency.
Anthony said: “We want the atmosphere to come back because I think this place lost it over the last three to four years. We just want to bring the love back again.
“Standing across the road looking at this building … it looks so old doesn’t it? This building definitely has a lot of stories but you need to dig deep to find them.”
They want to spruce up the walls with old pictures of the building which has previously been home to The Corner, Field of Beans and Italian restaurant Scalini’s.
Head chef Dion Jones left his job at St Fagans to work there.
At the moment, he serves cafe food like baguettes, paninis and jacket potatoes, but soon hopes to return to the building’s Italian roots by adding freshly-baked pizzas and burgers.
Dion said: “We’re trying to make people realise that changes have been made and it’s for the better of our customers at the end of the day – they’re the most important ones.”
Now closing at 6pm, Anthony is trying to get an alcohol licence with the hope of opening until 8pm on Thursdays to Saturdays.
He said: “We don’t want it to be a place where people think they can come and get drunk. We want it to be a place where people can walk their dogs at 8 o’clock at night and say ‘should we have a glass of wine?’ and pop in.”
Anthony, 45, was a PE teacher before working in Pentwyn leisure centre and has spent the last 20 years coaching football, an experience which motivated him to start his own business.
He said: “It just got to the point where I went ‘I’ve got to work for myself’.”
