Feli’s Bar & Restaurant Celebrates 20 Years

There is plenty to celebrate this August as our good friends and local restaurateurs, Felice and Fiorinda Tocchini, marked an incredible 20 years in business.

It is two decades since Felice and Fiorinda bought the Bird in Hand at Hawbridge, near Stoulton, and began the next chapter of their restaurant journey. Since then, Feli’s Bar & Restaurant has become a much-loved local destination, renowned for warm hospitality, excellent food and Felice’s passion for combining fresh, seasonal local produce with his Italian heritage.

To mark their 20th anniversary, Chef Felice will be treating customers throughout August to a selection of special offers and much-loved favourites, including dishes inspired by his Mamma Teresa, alongside his own Italian take on fish and chips - fritto misto.

The celebrations have already seen a series of full houses, as well as a popular demonstration and lunch event, with more special events still to come. There will certainly be plenty more opportunities to enjoy Felice’s cooking, so keep an eye on Feli’s Facebook page for the latest news. Here's what's coming up on Friday, 21 August.

From village pub to much-loved restaurant

A neighbour recently shared a fascinating old photograph of the original Bird in Hand, providing a glimpse into the building’s earlier history. The pub was once a popular meeting place for local farmers, agricultural workers and passing travellers. Sadly, the historic building was destroyed by fire in the 1960s and the present building was subsequently constructed in its place.

Felice and Fiorinda bought the property in 2006, relocating their business there from Alcester. For a time, they retained its character as a traditional pub serving high-quality food, before gradually transforming the interior through extensive renovations into the unique and welcoming dining space we know today.

Looking back over the past 20 years, Fiorinda summed up the significance of the milestone beautifully:

“We have seen our family grow with the business. We have also made some great friends, but thanks to you we have reached this milestone. We are grateful xx.”

The connection between Feli’s and our local clubs has also grown over the years. Pershore Rotary and the Pershore Inner Wheel Club have regularly enjoyed meetings, meals and special events at the restaurant.

Supporting young people through food

More recently, and in the year when Pershore Rotary President, Mina, has expressed her wish to actively promote youth activities and wellbeing projects, we have been delighted to support Malvern’s Cube Youth project, with youngsters visiting Feli’s twice a year to watch demonstrations and learn some basic cookery skills that they can take home and share with their families.

And the anniversary celebrations are providing even more opportunities for young people to get involved. On Tuesday, 18 August, Felice and Fiorinda held a Kids Cookery Class for youngsters aged 8 to 16. Under the banner “Get Creative. Get Cooking. Get Fun”, the session aims to help participants learn new skills, build confidence and, importantly, make new friends while enjoying the experience of cooking. The experience will no doubt remain long in their memories and have a lasting impact on their attitudes to their own wellbeing and that of their families. 

More celebrations to come

The anniversary programme doesn’t end there. Chef Felice will be bringing his culinary talents to Pershore’s Plum Festival, where he will give a cookery demonstration at 4.00pm on Monday, 31 August.

And after that? Who knows! One thing is certain: there are likely to be plenty more opportunities to savour Felice’s Italian-inspired cooking, so it is well worth keeping an eye out for further anniversary meals and special events.

Feli’s 20th anniversary is about much more than marking two decades in business. It is a celebration of family, friendship, food and community - all values that have helped make the restaurant such a special part of the local area. There’s no doubt that Feli’s contribution to the youth in our community has created impact and a lasting legacy we can be proud to support.

So, from all of us, congratulations to Felice and Fiorinda on 20 fantastic years! Here’s to many more years of great food, friendship and community and, of course, plenty more delicious Italian treats from Chef Felice!