“It all started when my kids became vegetarian soon after we moved to Australia. They were very nostalgic of Italian tastes, of lasagna in particular”, Alessandra D’Angelo says.
From that moment on, the mother of two started experimenting with alternative ingredients to help her kids maintain a connection with their culture through food without giving up on their new choices.
Ms D'Angelo says she started researching vegetarian options and also explored other special diets.
Osteria Italiana, Melbourne Source: Courtesy of Alessandra D'Angelo
“Finding vegan alternatives in Italian cooking was particularly challenging but today I can make a delicious plant-based sauce for lasagna, vegan calamari or cheesecake, for example. But it took a lot of work”, she told SBS Italian.
Ms D’Angelo moved to Australia from Italy over ten years ago to pursue her dream of becoming a chef and open a restaurant on an island much bigger than her birthplace, Sicily. She says she could fulfill her dream and start a special diet restaurant because of the culinary skills she developed cooking special meals for her son and daughter.
“Osteria Italiana is very different from the stereotypical Italian restaurant. Our mission is to offer authentic Italian food suitable for the widest diet range possible. I really like the idea to have people with very different diets seated at the same table," she says.
Growing up in Italy meant for her children that food was always a big part of life.
Alessandra D'Angelo, proprietaria e chef di Osteria Italiana a Melbourne Source: Alessandra D'Angelo
"It is often at the centre of many social interactions. Whether we meet for coffee, go for pizza or go for one of the many street food delicacies you find in Palermo”, says Ambra, Ms Alessandra's daughter. “Every big occasion has a special food attached to it - lamb for Easter, arancine for St Lucia, baccalà for Christmas," says the 28-year-old psychologist.
Moving to Australia meant being away from family and friends, but also from a lot of the foods that make every occasion even more special.
Ambra's brother Sergio, 30, who works as a doctor in a Melbourne hospital says becoming vegetarian meant missing out on traditional food. But, he says, his mother helped fill that gap.
"Growing up we have become more conscious about animal rights and the harm that the current state of the meat industry has been causing to animals as well as its impact on the environment, thus we decided to avoid the consumption of meat products.
“By becoming vegetarian following culinary traditions became even harder and often meant missing out. But our mother’s efforts to replicate typical Italian dishes in vegan and vegetarian versions, not only allowed us to celebrate special occasions and holidays the Italian way but also to enjoy the Italian cuisine in our everyday life, making our dietary choice less restrictive," he says.
