Our Story
Is one of family and friends.
It began as a small venture
Andrew moved to Keswick in early 2001 initially to run a guesthouse in the town having worked for Oxfam for over 20 years. The guesthouse required extensive refurbishment and looking for a way to finance the new project he saw that Casa Bella was up for sale.
The guesthouse project ran alongside Casa Bella for a few years before Andrew realised his passion was in the restaurant and the guesthouse was sold. With wife Sarah, the restaurant has now grown from a single to three units within the busy town centre with a Gelateria and Bar area offering a relaxed atmosphere for dinner and gelato.
Then gained a great manager
General Manager, Matt Forrester has worked in hospitality for over 20 years and joined Casa Bella in May 2021. Not to be confused with Andrew, (many people say they could be brothers!) he heads a 35 strong team of kitchen and service staff to keep Casa Bella at the height of the best places to eat in Keswick.
With an expert chef running the kitchen
Head chef, Guini Murtaza, has a passion for Italian food and regularly makes changes to our restaurant offering to reflect his favourite dishes. He works with our Lake District and Italian suppliers to offer wholesome Italian classics and a range of daily specials to tempt your tastebuds.
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Topped off with the best gelato in Cumbria!
Andrew’s son Matthew, and Sarah’s daughter Lily head up the gelato side of the business. Lily manages our dedicated Gelateria on Lake Road throughout the tourist season and Matthew creates and makes all our favourite gelato recipes from our dedicated unit in nearby Wigton.
Having trained at the Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna, Matthew crafts our gelato using local ingredients as far as possible to his own exclusive recipes. He is known to experiment with new flavours and taste combinations to offer a wide range of traditional gelato but something a little out of the ordinary too! We offer 16 different options at Casa Bella and 28 from our Gelateria.
Want to join our team?
Call Matt on 01768 775 575 for a chat or email eat@casabellakeswick.co.uk.