Eryri cafe site dubbed 'iconic' has reopened - sparking row over name
A cafe site in Eryri dubbed "iconic" has reopened - but has triggered a row over the name. Last autumn the people who ran Caffi Moel Siabod in Capel Curig posted that they would be leaving in January 2024 - with the site closing at the start of this year.
The site has been an "institution" for walkers due to its proximity to Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and other peaks in Eryri National Park. The operators later announced they were relocating to take over the cafe at the Eisteddfa Fishery, Pentrefelin, Criccieth.
In Capel Curig the site remained closed until this month but has now been reopened by Nadeem Abbasi, who owns a number of Londis stores and also Abbasi's restaurant in Betws-y-Coed. He is using the name Caffi Siabod at the site saying the cafe is situated under Moel Siabod mountain.
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The former operators said they wanted Capel Curig to get its cafe back open but that they were not happy with him using the Siabod name. Their new cafe is known as The Siabod at the Eisteddfa Fisheries.
While appreciating their "frustration" Mr Abbasi said he wanted to keep his head down and work with the community on creating a cafe and communal space for them. Opinions were divided on Facebook with some criticising his use of the Siabod name. But one person said: "One cafe is at the foot of Moel Siabod, the other is near Criccieth, who's got the moral high ground here?"
Talking about reopening the site, Mr Abbasi said: "This site is iconic in this area for walkers, hikers and bikers. But it is not just for them as this site is so important to the local people in Capel Curig. It is a place to meet and we want to be part of the community and for them to shape what we do here.
"As well as the cafe we plans to have a store and also the mobile library coming and mobile post office. We will start as a daytime cafe but we have a licence and we will look to do more around evenings going forward. We know how much this place means to everyone."
They have taken on three people so far and are using staff from Nadeem's other businesses. He hopes to have a full team of around a dozen in place by next spring.
He said: "That is when the season will really start and we need to be ready to go. The good thing is in the winter months we are quieter and our staff can move to different sites and we can ensure they get enough hours. But by March we want a full team there."
On the name, he added: "I understand their frustration - I know they put 14 years into this business. But the mountain is right under Moel Siabod - you can see Siabod from it. You can't trademark a mountain.
"I just want to keep my head down and work with community rather than engage in these things."
On social media, the former operators said: "I would like to make it clear that he and we are entirely separate enterprises and that we do not consent to him using our trade name which comes with a reputation which took us many years of extremely hard work to secure. That said we understand the need for Capel Curig to have a successful business operating from our former site and if Mr Abbasi saw the light and created his own successful brand we would offer him our genuine best wishes for the future."
On Facebook one person called using the name a "bloody cheek" but another added: "Neither business is a threat to the other, why not build each other up. It is a cafe with a view of Siabod, the name reflects that. I was an absolute fan of the original cafe, it has an incredible reputation, well earned, but I genuinely don’t think this new cafe will deter from the original business."
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