Dorchester’s long-standing Italian restaurant, La Caverna, has closed its doors for the final time.

The restaurant, located on Icen Way, Dorchester, has shut down operations after three decades.

The owners, Alison Saluci, 62, and Franco Saluci, 60, who have run the restaurant for the last thirty years wrote in a statement directed to their customers saying: “It is with great sadness that we have had to announce the closure of La Caverna. Thank you for all your immense support over the last three decades.”

Speaking to the Dorset Echo, Franco cited the couple’s reasons for closing down the establishment: “Part of it is the fact that we are getting older and wanted to slow down a bit, and also the rising cost of the business and music insurance nowadays.”

His wife, Alison, said the cost-of-living crisis has also made an impact on the decision: “It felt like the right time for us as overheads are just so expensive now, especially with electric, gas and the price of produce going up too.

“I would feel mean to my customers by raising prices even higher when everyone else is already putting their prices up by 40 per cent. I felt too sad to do that to them.” She continued.

Speaking about the good times over the last thirty years, the couple reminisced about their fundraisers and parties, with Franco saying: “Twenty years ago, we had our 10-year anniversary party which we held for our regulars at the time, where everything that night was free, and everyone had an amazing time.”

Thirty years has seen it’s fair share of drama at the restaurant too, with Alison saying the summer of 2012 was memorable: “2012 was a colourful year, we had that wet summer and the water just kept rising and we were flooded.”

Regular customers have been shocked by the news, with some still calling to make enquires about a bookings.

Franco said: “Some customers are still calling to book a reservation, and when we tell them, they say they are gutted by the news.”

When asked about what the future holds, Franco said: “Well, I’m retiring now and I’m just going to take it easy for a while.”

The couple are holding a ‘yard sale’ from Thursday, September 7, for two weeks at the restaurant, which will see them sell everything from tables, chairs and kitchen equipment. The full details for this can be found on their Facebook page, La Caverna.

It is understood that the landlord will not market the site for a new restaurant in the future.