Tributes paid to much-loved restaurateur Franco Bennasciutti

Italian chef Franco Bennasciutti, who opened Ristorante Romagna in Upper Green, Tettenhall, has died aged 82.

His wife Christine, 63, said: “He was like our ‘Godfather’. He was the patriarch of the family.

“We were holding his hand, playing Italian music so it’s quite raw but we’ve have a lot of tears over the last few weeks because we knew we were going to lose him.

“He always sat at the head of the table and I’m sitting here now.

“It’s so quiet now – we can’t believe he’s gone. It’s very surreal.

“He’s going to leave a big hole in our lives and in the lives of our close friends.

“We were grateful to New Cross Hospital because they were very good to him.

“It’s an end of an era, really. Life is going to be very different.”

From Bologna to Britain

Franco, who was born in Bologna, Italy, came over to England in his early 20s.

He first worked at the Raven Hotel in Shrewsbury, where he also lived at the time.

The chef moved to Wolverhampton and worked at the Victoria Hotel before taking up a job at The Kleber restaurant in King Street in the 1960s – where he later became manager.

Christine added: “He was in his 40s when he fulfilled his lifetime dream.

“He sold his house and put everything in his restaurant in 1976.

“Back in the day, a lot of people came and it was the place to come.

“We’ve seen families come with their children and we’ve even seen their children bring their children.

“It was a popular little restaurant – a ‘little gem’.

“He was a much-loved character and he was very successful at what.

“He genuinely loved his life and customers –he missed that when he retired.

“He loved life, customers, entertaining and being a restaurateur.

“A lot of people knew him. He was a good cook and excellent chef – and when he retired he he loved gardening."

Family man

Franco retired in 2001 and Christine and his son Mario took it over for a few years before Wolves legend Steve Bull took it on and re-branded it as Bravaccios.

Mario said: “It’s very sad that you can lose somebody you love.

“But the reality is he has left behind that feeling of really good and fun times and that’s the most important thing.

“We can take those forward and smile about them.

“He was a hard worker, a good father and a good family man.

“He loved his customers and what he did – his restaurant was his life.

“He made a lot of friends during that time and the customers were like family to him and that was the big thing.

“He made them feel very warm and welcome.”

The 58-year-old said one of his father’s favourite memories was when famous American singer Andy Williams played The Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton, to mark its reopening.

He added: “When The Grand reopened in the 1980s, Andy Williams played at the gala opening.

“Andy used to come in and he brought the orchestra up to the restaurant with him as a thank you to them for playing with him.”