The Italian began in Sandra Imbesi’s home kitchen where she embarked on a sourdough journey, baking for her children and a few lucky clients who received home delivery of her freshly baked bread.
In 2018, Sandra then decided to set up a stall at the Red Cliffs market with her best friend Krissy and her Mum who drove up from Melbourne to help. Sourdough breads, panzerotti, Arancini al’ ragù, pre packaged cold meats and Nonna rosa’s melanzane were all original menu offerings there. Sandra then began baking ciabatta and panini fast became a popular feature. Torta classica and cannoli were added too. And in winter, people flocked to the stall for pane fritto con polpette (fried bread with meatballs).
In 2020, Sandra had outgrown the home kitchen and bravely set out to open her own store in Etiwanda avenue. Here, The Italian was a deli with quality meats and cheeses which were sliced to order. It was also a retail shop with specialty pasta, olives, sauces, olive oil, chocolates, panettone, gelato and coffee. The kitchen continued to serve all the favourites from the market but introduced more panini, pasta dishes, antipasto, and bomboloni. The new shop soon created a massive following with many of the Southern Italian families now calling the region home and Sandra was often called upon to help cater for all types of family gatherings.
Sandra and The Italian joined Brad Fyfe and his team at Solunar at The Alfred Deakin Centre in April 2022. The two businesses combined their resources and operated out of the same kitchen to combat the post Covid pressure which had impacted everyone. The upside in this case was the unison of kitchen talent and innovation as the pair complimented each other beautifully. Brad has over 37 years of kitchen experience and previous roles locally include Executive Chef for Stefano de Pieri, Senior Lecturer of Hospitality at Sunraysia Institute of TAFE and Leader of Slow Food Mildura.
In April 2023 the decision was made to close the Solunar arm of the operations and focus on The Italian. Having confidence in the product the desire was to transition it to become a cafè in its own right. The opportunity arose to occupy the current Langtree Avenue address. The business plan was simple with the focus on Panini, Cannoli and Coffee, the target market was the lunchtime trade. The Italian Paninoteca | Cannoli | Bar was born.
Now, with further evolution and time at the new home, they have added occasional dinners, Italian style aperitivo/antipasti afternoons, and a liquor licence to the offerings. As before, the continued service of catering options as well as in-house functions are proving more popular than ever.
