The most notable of these was Giacomo Bracchi, whose empire of cafes in Wales grew so great that his surname became the general term for any Italian café. By the early 1900s, “Bracchis” could be found throughout the south Wales valleys, serving fresh coffee, fish and chips, and providing a place for neighbours and friends to meet, growing local relationships and community spirit.

Most Italian immigration to Wales took place in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with Giacomo Bracchi amongst those eager to start a new life in the UK. He arrived into London in 1881 and initially worked as an organ grinder – a novelty street musician who played the barrel organ. Organ grinding was a popular job in Italy, which was at the time home to some of the world’s best barrel organ manufacturers.

Historic literature notes that the streets of London were getting packed with Italian ice cream stalls and organ grinders around this time, so Bracchi started looking for a new “pitch”, where he could bring something different to a totally new area. He arrived in Wales via Newport, and after moving around for a few years eventually opened his Italian café and ice cream shop. Although Bracchi is the best-known of this new breed of café-teers, his arrival coincided with the temperance movement in Wales. This was a social movement against the consumption of alcohol, and as a result there were a number of temperance ‘bars’ opened by Italians around this time.

Bracchi had found himself a popular niche, and paved the way for more Italian confectioners and caterers, who would move to Wales and open their own food businesses over the coming years. As well as cafes, a number of families would pedal ice-cream carts through the streets, providing sweet cold treats to local communities across the country. South Wales was suddenly the best place to get a gelato outside of Italy!

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