An Italian deli in Reading town centre celebrated its third anniversary earlier this month.
Mama’s Way in Duke Street opened in 2021. Its owner, Walter Gumina, is from Rome and said the store was focused on Italian excellence.
“We import directly everything from Italy, starting from charcuteries and cheeses, rather than patisserie,” he said. “We cook here, so we do lunch and dinner and also delivery.
“We focus on classic prosecco and wine by the glass, we have 105 labels in our selection, and we also have Aperol spritz and the classic Italian cocktails.”
Mr Gumina also recognised the difficult circumstances in place when he opened: just as covid lockdown restrictions were easing.
“It was a very tough and challenging moment. It was a brave time to open, but we were sure about the concept, it was something that was missing in Reading,” he said.
“We want to be here, we want to help the community, we want to grow together with the community to bring Italian excellence to the public.”
Mr Gumina added that him and neighbouring Italian cafe and deli Madoo have created an ‘Italian quarter’ and share customers.
He said: “If someone from Madoo is looking for pizza, they send them to us.
“And if someone at Mama’s Way is looking for coffee, we direct them to Madoo.”
Both Mama’s Way and Madoo were named as the ‘best businesses in Reading’ during a Small Business Saturday promotion held by Matt Rodda MP.
Mama’s Way won the Restaurants and Eateries category and Madoo won the Cafes and Coffee Shops category during the promotional event in December last year.
