New Italian wine bar San Fedele opens in West Kirby, adding some spice to our little town.

As a teenager John Invernizzi recalls visiting Northern Italian to explore the vast culture with his dad, looking back on it now he describes the feeling as “surreal”. For a 14-year-old kid from Liverpool it must have felt like “another world” to visit the beautiful country. Invernizzi is of Northern Italian descent, specifically a small town called San Fedele in Lombardy, nestled among the rolling hills an hour away from Milan. When visiting the local towns surrounding, he felt the culture was concentrated in the tavernas, where the local community would gather. In the 80’s Steve’s father, Giuseppe Invernizzi, opened his first restaurant called ‘Pepe’s Taverna’ located in Edinburgh. Due to his father’s passion John always loved his Italian heritage and the culture it brought with it, so with the bar he wanted to replicate these authentic bars. He describes these trips as ‘sowing the seed’ of his love for the culture. 

 

Invernizzi took over the bar, named after that original village, in November of 2022 and opened February 24th, 2023. The size and location originally drew him to the site, the space is quite small but that lends itself to replication of the atmosphere and coziness of the original tavernas he loved. John believes he achieved that identity by being himself and “not trying to force anything”. He wants to ensure local people know there is a great heritage behind the bar, and it is genuinely “authentic”. This is proven as his suppliers provide him with food and wine imported from the northern Italian region, his father’s original taverna used the same company so you can see how the bar is deeply rooted in familial connections. John says his bar is a “story of being connected to my dad and that heritage”.  

 

Invernizzi said he spoke to other local business owners before opening, after this he felt “supported” and believed there was nothing to lose in opening San Fedele. He recalls the other owners as wanting to “work as partners not as threats”. John previously worked as a teacher for 34 years, so it seems he felt it was time for a change, and seeing as the bar was available everything fell into place. He also said that the bar has far exceeded his expectations, and he’s been amazed by the level of support from local people. Finally, when closing the interview he said he hopes people can see San Fedeli as a “reflection of northern Italy in a genuine and honest way” which I think is clear to see when you step foot in San Fedele.