FOR many, a blend of quality home-grown produce and imported Italian goods would be enough to pay Llandudno’s Romeo Ristorante Italiano a visit.

But owner Stefano Milo wanted more to make his business, which has been in his family for 30 years and which he took on from his father a decade ago, stand out among a bustling crowd, so turned to the latest craze – cryptocurrency.

After beginning to learn about it as a hobby in 2020, and inspired by a Bitcoin conference he attended in Miami earlier this year, Stefano sees his restaurant as a pioneer for embracing this new digital currency, which it now accepts as a payment method.

Stefano said: “I’ve done it just to spread the word a little bit. It’s still very early days, and fairly complex for people to do, but it’s getting easier as the years go by, and there are more and more people putting their trust in it.

“We’ve not had any takers yet, but we’ve had loads of messages and comments on Facebook of people saying: ‘Let’s try it’.

“I can safely say I’m one of the first. North Wales has always had a reputation of being Victorian towns and we are that, and I love where we live, but we can put ourselves on the map as having this title of being quite forward-thinking.

“A French tech company has even picked it up and put us on the news there!”

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The food itself should not go understated either, as Stefano and his team of 14 fuse the pick of Welsh and Italian products to craft a delicious range of dishes.

Through celebrating the best from home, and the restaurant’s home from home, it has taken on a new lease of life since Stefano took over from dad Pasquale.

Indeed, it’s taking the baton from Pasquale and running with it, as well as being, hopefully, cryptocurrency trailblazers for restaurants in Wales and the UK, that rank as Stefano’s proudest moments in business.

Rhyl Journal: The authentically Italian spaghetti con polpette at Romeo. Photo: Stefano MiloThe authentically Italian spaghetti con polpette at Romeo. Photo: Stefano Milo

He added: “Our main thing is classic, authentic Italian dishes.

“We import truffles from Italy – they’re becoming really popular – and recently put on fresh lobster raviolis which are flying out at the moment.

“We’re quite famous for seafood dishes, and our spaghetti con polpette; we’ve been making them for a long time and they’re very, very popular.

“We use imported Italian products combined with local produce – all Welsh beef, local Welsh seafood, all imported Italian wine – it’s extremely authentic!”

Romeo Ristorante Italiano, 25 Lloyd St, Llandudno, LL30 2UU.

For more information, visit: www.facebook.com/RomeoRistoranteItaliano.

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