Valentina Vigni is the former co-owner of famed Brisbane pizzeria, La Lupa and currently the co-owner of Pilloni, Australia’s newest Sardinian restaurant. Born in Italy, Valentina has been living in Australia for over a decade. We discuss living outside your homeland, how she got into hospitality, why Sardinian food is taking the world by storm and her tips for visiting Brisbane.
Valentina, could you tell us about what brought you to Australia and your idea to start your first restaurant, La Lupa?
Australia was always on my mind since I was very little, and to be honest I don’t even know the reason why. I knew very little about Australia but since a very young age I had this little call in the back of my mind. I needed to come here and visit. Then while I was living in London a friend of my partner at the time, had a layover at our place on his way back to Italy, from Australia. And he started to tell us about this stunning country and how much he loved it. I remember on that same night we decided to buy a ticket and go. It was very sudden if I think about it now, so I guess it must have been meant to be.
Once here, everything fell naturally into place, we didn’t want to leave anymore, and after few years we started to develop the project of opening our own place. I remember visualising it and developing the concept for at least 2 years before actually opening it. At the time we opened La Lupa, yes it was a pizzeria, like many others but we wanted it to be different. No-one was doing Roman style pizza here in Brisbane, as at the time Naples-style with a wood fired oven was the trend. So we decided to fly a consultant directly from Rome to develop a recipe that could be nice and crispy with a very long fermentation to ensure digestibility. From here we also added a small menu of Roman dishes and wonderful wine list. So it was fun changing a bit the concept of a pizzeria here in Brisbane, in which you could have a pizza and cacio e pepe with a bottle of Amarone.
You are originally from Siena in Italy, and you had a love of food from a young age. Could you tell us a bit about that and how your love of food turned into your career?
My background is in Business Communication, but I always have disliked the hours spent in front of the laptop. I was filling my time with recipe research, experiments done in my free time, masterclasses, I was bombarding my chef friends with thousands of questions. Then with the opening of La Lupa I decided to just do it, to become the head chef in my own restaurant. I did it, and again everything fell naturally into place.
You’ve lived in Australia for more than 10 years now. How would you describe the feeling of being away from your homeland and what are the different ways you try to remain connected to Italy?
Being away from my homeland is something I never fully got used to. I absolutely love Australia and I consider Australia my home, but inside, my blood is Italian and this is something that will never change, even after 50 years. Having my whole family and many of my best friends there also keep this connection very strong. I go back to visit whenever I can. But also here I find myself cooking mainly Italian, watching Italian movies often, drinking Italian wines…so yes it makes me feel at home.
Pilloni, your newest restaurant opened in February last year (2023). Why did you decide to focus on Sardinian food and what are the ways you’ve incorporated elements of Sardinia into the restaurant’s design?
My business partner is half Sardinian and half from Veneto. So he spent much of his young age visiting his relatives in Sardinia, and had that dream to bring a little part of Sardinia here in Brisbane. The year before opening Pilloni he brought me there and I was in. A few months after we found the perfect spot. Andrea’s relatives from Sardinia helped us to find many of the fit-out elements we’ve imported, as we wanted the place to feel authentic and not just a fake copy with pictures of Sardinia on the walls. The feeling we were after was of an old agriturismo-style home, with a lot of warm timber, a large fire always on, different types of stone.
When we met recently, you mentioned the rise of Sardinian food locally and internationally. Where have you noticed this and why do you think Sardinian food has caught people’s attention?
Talking to our clients, lots of them are increasingly adding Sardinia to their Italian itinerary. Many places are opening a bit everywhere, inspired by Sardinian cuisine. I guess the winning point is the diversity of that cuisine. In fact Sardinia has been at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, a frontier between the Islamic and Christian worlds, and has been a centre of cultural and linguistic exchanges for millennia. Just as it is easy to find influences from other Mediterranean languages in Sardinian, the same is true for culinary traditions.
Many of the traditional dishes were introduced here by peoples with whom the Sardinians had trade, but above all by the occupying peoples, especially the Spanish, who ruled the island for more than two hundred years. The cuisine favours strong and savoury flavours, thanks to the excellent quality of the raw materials.
You currently call Brisbane home. For anyone visiting, what are your tips for things to do and places to eat?
Brisbane is a city that still enjoys a bit of a laid back lifestyle especially compared to Sydney and Melbourne. Here the pace is definitely slower, and great to enjoy the outdoors. I recommend taking some time visiting the neighbourhood of West End, with the Saturday farmer’s market, and the secondhand fashion, book and record stores (definitely one of the last areas that remains authentic and less touristy).
If you are after a bit more buzz, Howard Smith Wharf is the place to go, with bars, stunning views and very good restaurants like Stanley led by head Chef Louis Tikaram, or Greca that never disappoints. For pasta cravings I love Ripiena, a little fresh pasta shop close to the valley, with a very good wine list too. And for breakfast my favourite is Lucky Duck café and bar.
What is next for you and for Pilloni?
The project is now to focus on Pilloni, and perhaps involving the clientele into the game with cooking and wine masterclasses to further share the knowledge of this land.
Pilloni Instagram: @pillonirestaurant
Pilloni website: https://www.pilloni.com.au/
