A new café has opened in Barry, bringing with it new tastes and cultures to the town.
Flavour Up opened on Island Road, just off High Street, at the start of August and has already garnered a dedicated customer base.
Run and opened by Arig Elattai, 38, the café incorporates a wide range of worldwide and Middle Eastern cultures into its menu, offering something a little different than the standard often found across the town – and karak tea.
Previously a housewife, Ms Elattai moved to Barry from Dubai around three years ago.
She told the Barry and District News that this business came from a simple act in Arabic culture: cooking for one another. Her children’s friends would visit her home and these visitors would ask her to cook special dishes.
Ms Elattai said: “I said ‘why not?’
“There’s not a huge restaurant culture in Barry, so I started to search for a small place to start our business, then I found this shop.”
The café serves up dishes from across the world, blending a range of cultures together to create a truly unique menu.
Ms Elattai said: “You can’t call it an English café or a Turkish café because it’s different cuisines from across the world with my touch. That’s why people love it.
“Anyone can come here and find something they will like.”
Flavour Up has already gathered support from the businesses around it, with Ms Elattai saying neighbours had offered them plenty of advice that would help them constantly improve and grow the café.
Alongside this, a varied customer base that ‘attracts everyone of all ages’ has allowed for busy weekdays and even busier weekends.
Ms Elattai told the Barry and District News: “As a new business you’ll find difficulties but all the people who know us have already sampled us and the people living nearby have already come to order and offered advice.
“When people come in, they already like the food and they come back - that’s what makes me really happy.
“What’s most important is that the people who come here come back.”
Flavour Up is open on Island Road now, until 3pm each day.
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