ONE of St Helens' top breakfast and brunch venues has a new owner, who has described his excitement at taking the reins of the venue.

Toast in Dentons Green has been bought by the boss of the Litte Italy restaurant in Rainford. 

Lisa Whittle launched Toast on Dentons Green Lane in 2011 and the business has thrived to become a firm favourite on the St Helens food scene – particularly for its afternoon teas and tasty cooked breakfasts.

Mum-of-two Lisa credits its success to its "positive and enthusiastic staff, welcome environment and quality ingredients and food".

However, when she decided to retire, she didn’t want to take away such a beloved place from the community.

Instead, Lisa approached Little Italy owner Fabio Cangemi to see if he would be interested in buying the venue.

The Rainford restaurateur, who originally founded his business with his brothers before going solo with Little Italy, decided it was a great business move and on Monday he became the new owner of Toast.

He doesn’t want to change it too much though, and has been talking exclusively to the Star about his plans.

He said: “Toast is a successful and popular business, well-loved for its breakfasts, brunches and afternoon teas.

"Lisa has made it a huge success and decided herself she was ready for a change in her life and I thought it was too good an opportunity to not take.

“Toast and Little Italy are both about fresh produce and good food cooked well. That’s why Lisa felt we were a good fit as we had the same sensibilities when it came to our food offerings.

“There is absolutely no need or desire to stop Toast doing what it currently does so well, just because it’s now part of the Little Italy family does not mean I am going to change the favourites and put parmesan on anything.

“The fine china that people love and the breakfasts and brunches and afternoon teas will not change; there may be some minor décor changes down the line, with Italian specials and desserts available to those who want them, but why break a good thing?

“Further down the line into the new year I’d like to offer evening meals, which Toast currently does not do, for a few evenings in the week, offering even more to the people of Dentons Green. The idea is to add to Toast, not to take away from what it is.

“To have the opportunity to take over a successful business like this so well established is rare and I thank Lisa for trusting me with that. And I hope the community can show us the same love and support it’s showed Toast previously.”

Meanwhile, Lisa said: “I’m absolutely delighted at this sale because at the start of 2024 I decided I wanted to retire, my children are grown and in 14 years I’ve built a successful business - I wanted to leave it in good hands.

“To pass it on to Fabio is brilliant because he is as passionate about good quality food as I am and I know he only wants to add to Toast. I’m certainly excited to be visiting in the evening when he serves up delicious Italian food and see what he does with it while keeping everything people love about it.

"I own the building, so the business is no longer mine but I have every interest in making sure it continues to be a success and I think Little Italy is a great fit.”

Toast is now rebranded as Toast by Little Italy, with new signage in place.

The opening hours are currently unchanged with the original menu in place and staff have been retained at the Greenfield Road site.

For more information follow Toast on social media.