A family-run 120-year-old Italian café has opened its doors to welcome back its customers who can, at last, take a seat to eat inside.

Pellicci’s is run by 81-year-old Maria Pellicci, her daughter Anna Sereno, her son Nevio and their cousin Tony.

The café is a hotspot with celebrities who frequently visit such as Towie star Gemma Collins and EastEnders actress Patsy Palmer, who used to eat at Pellicci’s as a little girl.

May 17 marked the first time in 2021 that customers were able to eat inside to enjoy its “good breakfasts and Italian classics”.

Anna said: “We were full and steady all day. We’ve got a year and a half of pent-up loving abuse to give our customers and they have been waiting for it and can’t wait.

“We love to have a laugh and a joke with our customers. It’s always smiles and it comes from the heart.”

Anna and her mother Maria open the café every morning at 8am to begin food preparation. Prior to Covid, the opening time was 7am but the decrease in commuters and tourists has meant the earlier hours are quieter.

“It tends not to get busy until 10am, but we open at 8am to prepare. We make everything by hand and my mother is here every morning, she is responsible for making all of the desserts.”

The café is best known for its homemade lasagne, cannellini and chicken escalopes - all family favourite dishes that they have been cooking in "family trays" over lockdown so that families can “eat at home and feed the family without having to pay too much and queue at supermarkets”.

Being able to have their customers dine in again has been “so nice”, said Anna.

“We have been lucky the whole way through lockdown with our customers continuing to order takeaways from us. So far it has been great, and we expect the evenings and weekends to be much busier.

“You can count on us for simple but good food! What we give to our customers is what we eat at home,” she said.

Follow Pellicci’s Instagram to spot the celebrity visitors at @pelliccicafe and visit the café where a photo album is displayed behind the counter at 332 Bethnal Green Road.