MODERN ITALIANS

There was a time, not so long ago, when Italian restaurateurs had to explain focaccia, calamari and other Italian staples to diners. Rinaldo ‘Ronnie’ Di Stasio remembers it well. It was around the same time, he says, that “mixed pasta” could be found on menus across the country: an assortment of pasta slapped on a plate, sometimes served in the Italian flag’s colours. “We all fell for it! Thank God we’ve all come out of it alive,” laughs the Melbourne restaurateur.

“It was really important to us to re-establish ourselves as Italians in Australia. With that came the notion of wanting to be proud of being second-generation Italian.”

Back in 1985, modern Italian dining was yet to gain the cachet it has today, where cacio e pepe has cult status and fine-dining