Not nonna's Italian

The similarities between Italian and Asian cultures make Italian cuisine a perfect playground for chefs. Yet while Australian diners are quick to embrace Anglo chefs specialising in Asian cuisines, it can prove more difficult when the roles are reversed.

- RUSHANI EPA

In the heart of Armadale’s High Street in Melbourne, between Lune Croissanterie and fine-diner Amaru, sits a little Italian trattoria, Zia Rina’s Cucina. It’s co-owned and run by long-time friends and chefs Adrian Li and Danny Natoli, who met while working together at beachfront institution, Donovan’s.

“At Zia Rina’s customers would walk up to Danny and go ‘hey mate, how are you going?’ and Danny would be like ‘this is Adrian’ and then they’d look at my hand extended out for them and just bow. Every time it would happen Danny would piss himself laughing. It was one of those funny memories I had and it happened for like three or four months until they realised ‘this guy’s Aussie as’,” says Li, aware his Asian heritage threw customers who were expecting an Italian behind the pans.

At the pair’s latest venture La Madonna at Next Hotel, they continue to put an Asian spin on Italian dishes – paying homage to Natoli’s Italian roots, and Li’s expertise.

Plenty of Anglo chefs are well-known and celebrated for their mastery of Asian cuisines – David Thompson is legend for bringing Thai cuisine to the forefront in the Western world; Fuchsia Dunlop is a British chef lauded for her work with Sichuan fare; Christine Mansfield is known as the “spice queen” and celebrated for her love of Indian cuisine. But, if you flip the narrative, how many Asian chefs can you name who are equally celebrated for excelling at European cuisines?