Welcome to Felice’s Bella Roma: true Italian dining in the heart of Wakefield.
Owner Felice Di Giorno had the good fortune to take over this long running restaurant in 2012 and since then it has been going from strength to strength.
Felice’s vision is simple: good honest Italian cooking in a classic but relaxed setting, with excellent service.
Felice is passionate about sourcing quality ingredients, combining the best that Italy and Yorkshire have to offer. Artisan pasta, cheeses, cured meats, olives, extra virgin olive oil, type 00 flour and even the bottled water all come from carefully selected Italian suppliers for guaranteed authenticity. Fresh produce is sourced locally wherever possible and Felice is particularly proud of his quality steaks from David Gawthorpe butchers in Denby Dale, West Yorkshire.
Good food needs a good chef and Felice knew exactly who he wanted: head chef Conrad has previously worked alongside Felice for many years in another well-known Wakefield restaurant so it was a sign of a strong team when they were reunited in Bella Roma.
Felice originally hails from Calabria in Southern Italy, growing up in the small mountain village of Verbicaro.
He came to England at the age of 24, to work in the previously mentioned Italian restaurant, under the wise tutelage of owners Vincenzo and Salvatore Silvestri, two brothers from Felice’s home village, who were to become his lifelong mentors. Felice came over with the intention of staying for just a year in order to learn English and gain valuable restaurant experience, but soon met his wife-to-be, a Yorkshire girl, and never went home (apart from to visit his mamma of course). Felice now has two daughters and considers himself an honorary Yorkshireman as much as he is Italian.
It is with pride then that Felice warmly welcomes you to his restaurant, whether a new face or one of his many regular customers who return time and time again and have become his good friends.
