Tutto in famiglia

Owned by a family obsessed with quality food, Lello's in Cape Town is the kind of neighbourhood deli you'll wish you had around the corner in your neck of the woods

- ILANA SHARLIN STONE

Meet the Turillis: Cape Town's very own multigenerational famiglia of feeders.

Ricky, seasoned restaurateur and proprietor of Scarpetta in Woodstock. Melissa, baker of classic Italian desserts. And now, the next generation: food stylist Chiara and her brother, fashion photographer Dani (Danillo), who are the team behind Lello's Deli. With a tantalising mix of local and imported foods, it's a one-stop shop to la dolce vita.

Their beloved father and grandfather Lello short for Rafaello - emigrated to South Africa in the lean post-Second World War years from the town of Rieti, 80 km north-east of Rome. He married Irna Gluckstein, a Cape Town caterer later known as "the lasagne queen of Cape Town", and set himself up in Woodstock as a motor mechanic, specialising in Alfa Romeos and Ferraris.

What's an Italian garage without food? "My dad had a wooden kitchen/lounge in his workshop," says Ricky. "In those days, many of the chefs in Cape Town were Italian. On their days off, they'd come by and cook their own provincial food; rustic dishes like beans and sausage and bollito misto." Ricky went to hotel school and worked in catering - and banqueting before going solo. He married Melissa, a nurse who loved to bake. Chiara and Dani grew up working in their dad's restaurants; they were teenagers when Ricky ran Andiamo, the popular trattoria that sprawled across the courtyard of The Cape Quarter, a stone's throw from where Lello's Deli is today.

Once he retired, Lello became a fixture in the Andiamo kitchen and worked closely with Melissa on desserts. Ricky eventually sold his shares in Andiamo and ran Zucca, another restaurant on Kloof Street. There was a brief retirement and then came Scarpetta; small and informal - his dream restaurant.