Co-owners Mirela Halili and Anteo Vodollari talk about opening the new Italian restaurant in Deptford
Family and flavour are the focus of Deptford’s The Broadway Café, which is run by co-owners Mirela Halili and Anteo Vodollari, who are also mother- and son-in-law.
The Broadway Café menu homes in on, but is not limited to, a trio of Italian delights. As is their tagline: Pizza, actually. Focaccia, truly. Tiramisu? absolutely.
Mirela and her husband have lived in Deptford for around 30 years and raised their two children here and Anteo has called it home for around seven years.
The couple have worked in the hospitality industry for a very long time, including owning another Italian restaurant around 10 years ago.
Anteo has managed a few Italian restaurants and was most recently the operations manager for a small Italian chain.
“I always had a passion for food and the dream of having something of my own, something family-owned,” he says of wanting to share his passion with others.
Since opening The Broadway Café in December, they have focused on perfecting their recipes and many items sell out each day.
Mirela works very hard and her cooking “comes from the heart”, she says. “I have a passion for good food. It is excellent when you see people’s smiling faces and enjoyment when they eat. For that reason, every single item we make in the shop.”
She also loves when people come back, again and again, and wants the café to be a “second home” for diners.
And it does feel like home. Everything at The Broadway Café is homemade – from the dough to the inventive tiramisus.
They have classic tiramisu, as well as pistachio and matcha, plus specials like strawberry, which was on the menu this Valentine’s Day.
The chilli oil, hot honey and garlic oil are also made in the kitchen, baking scotch bonnets and balancing flavours.
Mirela says how her grandmother would say, “chilli and garlic are like an antibiotic”, used in cooking to make people feel better.
Anteo adds how the menus at The Broadway Café are seasonal, too, with changes every month, including dishes for special holidays.
They also try to keep prices affordable, while still using quality ingredients straight from Italy.
In Italian culture, recipes are often passed down through generations and Mirela says she learned a lot about cooking from her father.
There is a picture of her father on the wall of the restaurant, too, as a homage to the recipes of relatives.
Dishes on the menu are born from what the co-owners like to eat and that they can prepare well, developed through lots of practice.
Soon, they want to expand the menu, and they tell us that lasagne and other pasta dishes will be introduced to the menu in the coming months.
And for Mirela, presentation is key, eating with your eyes first. Anteo says how Mirela will always finish a plate by sprinkling over extra pistachios and have the tiramisu in the perfect position for the customer to enjoy.
“You try the outside first,” she says. “Then you eat the inside and enjoy.”
“Plus, we want to want to be proud of the food that we serve,” adds Anteo. “We don’t cook dishes just sell them and our customers aren’t just numbers. Most of our customers are regulars, and we know them personally.”
Of being located in Deptford, Anteo says how the “community is great”.
He says: “I cannot see myself living elsewhere. It’s hard for me to even think about. The community has also welcomed us and the restaurant, and been supportive.”
Mirela adds: “Down the high street, you see people to say hello to and I like that.”
The main thing for The Broadway café is that they want to create satisfying dishes for diners, who have quickly become friends, says Anteo.
“We take pride in what we do, and we love when people come back because, to us, that means they love our work,” he adds.
47 Deptford Broadway, Deptford, SE8 4PH
