Dolce Vita opens in Cwmbran at former Frankie & Benny's site

Dolce Vita Restaurant opened on Glyndwr Road on October 7, and Claudio Senestro said they hoped it would help "make Cwmbran a better place" by giving locals further options on where to eat out.

"It's looking good. We are happy with the beginning," he said. "[Cwmbran] is a huge place and there's not many Italian restaurants around.

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"In this tough time, we couldn't expect too much. Not many people would be willing to take the step in this tough time to go out, as it's not the right time.

"But we wanted to open, as we had been supposed to open around a month ago.

"We want to do our best to make Cwmbran a better place and give people more options on where to go.

"It's our job to make people feel as welcome and comfortable as possible.

"We've been open 10 days. So far, people have said they like the atmosphere, the service, the music and the food."

Inside the new Dolce Vita restaurant in Cwmbran. Picture:Dolce Vita Cwmbran

Mr Senestro explained the safety measures in place at the restaurant.

"We try to be very careful," he said. "We respect the two-metre social distancing - we have customers on one table and leave the next table empty to make sure everyone is spaced out. We make sure we are wearing masks, and we have hand sanitiser and all the signage with a one-way system around the restaurant."

Mr Senestro said there were plans in place for the outside area of the restaurant, however they were taking things "step by step" because of the coronavirus measures.

As part of its opening, the restaurant running a deal where any pizza or pasta costs £7.50 on Tuesday to Friday from midday to 2.30pm.

When asked about the possibility of a circuit breaker lockdown, Mr Senestro said they were staying positive.

"If that's going to happen it for all businesses so there's nothing we can do," he said. "We have to respect their decision. It's going to be hard but I think customers can't wait to be back to normal again.

"We just have to be positive."

As with other food businesses, Dolce Vita has had to close to eat-in diners during the 'circuit breaker' lockdown, but is still offering delivery and takeaway.