A visit to meet his wife’s parents soon turned into a love affair with a country that he saw as full of promise and a decision was soon made to emigrate.

Antonio’s food career began here while working with Cook Strait Seafoods, a business owned by his wife’s family, where he discovered an appreciation  for Kiwi fish and chips and kai moana. But the taste memories from his home on Italy’s beautiful Amalfi coast still lingered.

“All I could think about was the Parma ham, vinegars, oils and cheeses that I missed so much, so I started La Bella Italia really as an excuse to bring these things in for myself.”

Twelve years ago Antonio created a little slice of Italy in an old warehouse space down a side street in Wellington’s Petone – well before the seaside suburb began its swift gentrification – and sent out the word he was open for business.

The foodies got talking and it wasn’t long before the tables at La Bella Italia were full to overflowing and products like the San Daniele ham, mozzarella di buffala and culatello di Parma, which Antonio was the first to import, flew out the door.

“It took a while to educate my customers about them. I remember one day I was running a tasting station in the middle of the shop and I had all sorts of things on it. I asked two ladies if they wanted to try some Parma ham and they stood back and asked me if it was contagious – they thought it might be a disease because they had never heard of it before. Of course they tried it and loved it and I told them how you could use a couple of slices of Parma ham and some melon and that could be a meal. A lot of people have the idea that Italian food is very complicated but it’s not. It’s as simple as putting two beautiful ingredients together.”

Antonio has noticed a huge change in the food industry here over the past decade, describing New Zealanders as early adopters, but says there is still some distance to cover.

“We have some of the best fresh produce here in New Zealand and a lot of people with lots of initiative but there is much that can be developed. The Italians have been doing it since Roman times, which is why they have become so good at it. Service is another thing we need to work on. A little more effort needs to go into the hospitality schools so we can be up there with the best.”

Small niggles aside, there isn’t much that rankles Antonio about his new Kiwi life. Business has been so good that he’s recently opened a satellite store on The Terrace and for the past three years has been running a very popular cultural and gastronomical tour through Italy.

“La Bella Italia is such a pleasure for me.  Every night I go home with the huge satisfaction that someone else has learnt about our olive oils or cheeses or gelato. I never really think about it as coming to work, it’s my lifestyle – it’s hard to keep me away.”

La Bella Italia – visit online at labellaitalia.co.nz or phone 04 566 9303

 

Photo by Nicola Edmonds

Story by Nicole Curin-Birch