New Italian Café and Restaurant Launched From University of Birmingham Alumni

A café by day. A restaurant by night. Welcome to Tropea.

Two ex-University College of Birmingham students have launched, Tropea, an Italian café by day and an Italian restaurant by night. Tropea is the brainchild of Ben Robinson-Young and Kasia Piatkowsaa, who both graduated from the University College of Birmingham in 2014.

Tropea (pronounced Tro-Pey-Ah) is inspired by the small and beautiful town on the Calabrian coast and the menu is heavily influenced by food sold on the streets of Italy.

During the day, Tropea will serve up great coffee, breakfast, pastries, toasted focaccia sandwiches and specialities such as Piadina and Panelle.

In the evening, Tropea transforms into a relaxed and softly lit restaurant with a menu made up of small plates, designed to share. Home to snacks, fresh pastas, seafood and regional specialities the menu reflects the best and freshest of produce, from day-boat fish to venison.

A mostly, but not exclusively, Italian drinks list including wines from regions all over the country will also be available.

Ben and Kasia met training as chefs at University College Birmingham in 2010, followed by working and travelling around the world, developing their passion for food and wine.

Ben Robinson-Young, said, “Tropea is a place close to Kasia’s heart, she spent many summers there as a child and is so excited about bringing the sunshine and flavours of the town onto our guests’ plates. We’ve been working towards this for 10 years. Lockdown provided the time and space to really consider what we wanted to do and realise our collective dream of opening a business of our own – Tropea.”

Tropea opened Wednesday 25^th August. Bookings can be made here