How the Covid-19 pandemic has changed Italian cafes in Australia

The experience of two owners of cafes in Perth and Melbourne, Katia Taschetti and Mauro Sanna.

Mauro Sanna, proprietario di Pausa Pranzo a Melbourne, e Annalisa Trequattrini, manager di Trio Cafe and Wine Bar a Perth Source: Instagram

Highlights

• The restrictions imposed by the emergency forced Italian venues to review procedures, activities and offers
• The crisis helped to create a sense of community, as demonstrated also by the 200 pay-it-forward coffees of an (almost) anonymous Melburnian
• That's why in post-coronavirus Australia Italian cafes in Australia will be even more Italian

The good news is that at the end of the day, when the pandemic is just a bad memory and the crisis is over, Italian cafes in Australia will be a little more Italian.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but it is what two owners of venues that are 3,400 kilometers apart, Katia Taschetti and Mauro Sanna, have told SBS Italian.

Le restrizioni hanno inevitabilmente modificato le abitudini dei clienti dei bar italiani down under Source: Instagram @triocafewinebar

The 33-year-old originally from Norcia, in the central region of Umbria, who together with her husband manages the Threecoins restaurant and the TRIO café and wine bar in Perth, said that the crisis imposed a review of the menu and the introduction of a series of new products, many of the which are destined to last over time.

"We stopped offering eggs on toast and reinvented ourselves by selling sauces and fresh pasta. After that, at the request of customers, we developed service at the counter by offering donuts, tarts and takeaway coffee for breakfast and completely transforming lunch, which now also includes porchetta. It was an eye-opener, a success. People started queuing up for it."

Katia Taschetti, 33enne umbra di Norcia, nel suo TRIO Cafe & Wine Bar di Perth. E Mauro Sanna, 32enne sardo di Nuoro, nel suo Pausa Pranzo di Melbourne Source: Supplied

Le nuove norme hanno modificato le abitudini dei clienti, ma hanno anche contribuito a creare e rafforzare il senso di comunità Source: Instagram @pausa_pranzo_melbourne

According to Mauro Sanna, owner of the Pausa Pranzo restaurant in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, regular customers have discovered the pleasure of experiencing the venue as a meeting place.

"The initial idea was to offer take-away, from breakfast with croissants to lunch with culurgiones, a typical Sardinian dish. Due to the emergency, we evolved towards gastronomy and what we found was a change in attitude from customers. This period increased people's sense of respect, gratitude and humanity. On the first day of the lockdown, one customer paid forward 50 coffees for the other customers "

The social distancing and anti-gathering rules have provoked a tsunami that has hit the  catering world. SBS Italian is interviewing Italian restaurateurs, chefs, pizza makers, pastry chefs and importers in Australia who managed to keep their activities alive thanks to original initiatives, in some cases eccentric, but certainly ingenious.

Did you miss the previous episodes of our journey to discover the impact of COVID-19 on catering workers? You can find them here.

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