Hampton based restaurant La Svolta is home to truly authentic Italian food, inspired by delightful regions like Tuscany, Campania, Venice and Sicily.
Valerio Calabro ventured from his hometown in Italy to Australia many years ago, bringing a vision for fresh and simplistic Italian food, that has now been transformed into an eatery founded on genuine Italian cooking.
La Svolta is family driven, with recipes passed down by generations and dishes created with a sincere labour of love.
We chat to Valerio about La Svolta, and why the best days start and end with dough!
What inspired you to start La Svolta?
Pino (Giussepe ‘Pino’ Russo, Valerio’s business partner) and I wanted to share the food of our country with people here. Simple authentic Italian food like we eat at home.
Tell us about your career and background.
I have always had a passion for food and cooking, but I was working for an import export company in Italy. I came to Australia for 6 months to learn English. I started working in a restaurant in Windsor and that’s when I realised I needed to make this my career.
Describe a typical workday for you.
The days are always so different! I always begin with a coffee and checking the dough for the pizza. We make the dough the night before and let it prove overnight, so you could say I start and finish my day with the dough! The rest of the day involves prepping food, catching up with my team and anything else that presents.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start their own business – specifically in the food industry?
Just be passionate – customers can taste it! The restaurant business takes up a lot of your time, it’s not the easiest path, but if you’re passionate about what you do you’ll enjoy the journey.
What’s next for you, and La Svolta?
Ahh, there is always an idea cooking in my head! For now, we’ll just keep serving authentic Italian food from my old country to my new country! I’m sitting the citizenship to become an Australian in two weeks…I’m very excited!
