A NEW authentic southern Italian cafe has opened in Bournemouth town centre by a couple with Italian roots.

Calabrese, a southern Italian cafe named after the people of the Calabrian region, opened on June 22 in Yelverton Road. 

Previously Nab's barber shop, owners Angela Piomatti, and Dave Eyre have worked since February to prepare the shop which has been inspired by Angela's Italian family. 

She said: "It's made with love and it's authentic, good ingredients, no nasties and my family's recipes.

"My mum is English but my dad is from Calabria. I was born there and lived there until I was twelve and then came over here. 

"It's our heart and soul and when you go through a rough time, you realise life's too short not to be happy."

In honour of her family, Angela plans to hang photos of her Italian family around the cafe to share her roots which she has matched by naming the selection of sandwiches after them. 

The most notable is 'the Angelo' which is named after Angela's grandad. 

She said: "Everything I've been brought up on is to feed people and to make them happy and to nurture through food one way or another, even if it's a market stall, or making olive oil or in the kitchen. 

"I'm going to do some Italian lessons here once a week, get a little group, and grab some wine and prosecco and we'll do salads on a Thursday and pasta once a month."

With several options as to where they could have set up shop, Angela and Dave were clear that they chose Bournemouth town centre over other areas stating she wanted to bring people back to town. 

Although Westbourne was a choice, she blamed the area being 'oversaturated' for the decision not to go. 

She said: "I love Westbourne, it's groovy but it's really oversaturated, hard to park and actually [ I thought] let's bring people here. 

"In time I want us to have a street party here and you could have food out like a London food festival and bring all cultures together."