Renato Marrocco married his sweetheart Maria , and in 1962 they moved from their home town of Cassino , Italy to Worthing , England in search of a better life . After working their early days with Maria's Aunt Ellena Forte , in 1966 they started commuting to Brighton and back where they were able to rent their first shop , a cafe on the corner of East street ( now Pitcher & Piano ) , putting in the long hours every day . Along the road in Hove there was a small beach side cafe that had been opened in 1935 called Fortes which was one of the first of many Fortes to open in the U.K. and situated on Kings Esplanade , famous for its summer time gelato as well as snacks served in the booths . Seeing the potential of being the only seafront cafe around at the time they made an offer to rent the place even though they still had a few months left to run in Brighton . October 1969 is the official date that Maria & Renato took over Fortes ( pictured ) and a few months later the Fortes sign was replaced with the now iconic MARROCCO'S ice cream parlour .