#04 KITCHEN (PART I) 

All Eyes On > #04 KITCHEN (PART I) 

Food that unlocks memories

Monica Voltolina

She/Her

IG:@movosli 

Google: Nane della Giulia 

Reading time: 3 min 21 sec

Speaking time: 6 min 28 sec

The vaulted ceiling opens like a jewelry box, Monica sits at the table talking about her restaurant. 

The sense of community within Nane is certain, important team dynamics would not work, certainly from time to time corners have to be 'smoothed out' when more than two people are working for many hours a day, and consequently, a kind of natural selection takes place within the place and it is utopian, says Monica, to believe that you can run things without a leader. The kitchen  staff and waiters rely heavily on Chef Nicolô when Monica and her husband are not there.

From the 1940s to the 1970s, the restaurant was run by Giovanni, Giulia's husband, which, translated into Venetian dialect, is the name of one of Padua's gastronomic institutions: "Nane dea Giulia".

Monica's story makes you feel like an aunt telling you about the family's past: "When it opened one day, a very old man came in, a certain Mario Bruzza, he said he was the last of the real managers, and he said to me: - I advise you to always be open - it was like an apparition'.

In the seventies, the story continues, it passed to the professors: there was a collective of teachers from the University of Padua who decided to run the place.

Monica's mouth twitches a little when she talks about the works carried out at the bar sevice area in the early 1980s. They dismantled an old refrigerator, but the original tables and woodwork remained. One of the professors took over the Osteria and Monica bought it from him in 1994.

Now, in 2023, we are approaching the 30th anniversary of this historic and magical place. 

"In thirty years there have been many significant moments, among them, of course, the recognition of the work we have done as a team, because it is not all my work, to safeguard traditional Venetian cuisine. The value of preserving traditions began to be recognised, and this started around 2010, so after twenty years of an honorable career".

Tastes and the concept of food have evolved hand in hand with technology, but if you go to an Osteria Veneta, you will eat pasta and beans, not made as they used to be, perhaps they will be revived, but the concept of an Osteria is not like that of a restaurant: you will find acertain type of wine, there is soft lighting, perhaps some music, and a relaxed atmosphere.

There was a time when you could dine at Nane's with live music, but being in the city center, the managers had some difficulties, music is not welcome.

It was a battle with the neighborhood and also with the public because they were not used to entertainment, and a lot of customers complained.

"In the beginning, I'm talking about the early '90s, we had jazz music, the combination of dinner and live music was avant-garde at the time, after jazz we had karaoke artists where the customers sang, but we didn't like that kind of format, so we tried young Paduan artists. Even Maestro Daniele Depuis - aka Megahertz - accompanied the dinners of Paduans and others on the piano for a while”.

Through her cooking, Monica tries to unlock memories by creating and recreating traditional dishes,

The compliment I get most often is - it's nice, it feels like to be at my grandmother's, aunt's, or mother's house - and for me, that's the most important thing. We all have to feed ourselves, so why not do it with pleasure? That is why I believe in cooking and cooking well with healthy, quality products. In everyday life as well as in restaurants, because it is much easier to satisfy your taste buds, but what you eat must also be good for you. Eating in a nice place, sitting down with nice cutlery, nice plates, and background music makes all the difference. Otherwise, just a little sandwich would be enough, and off you go".

Monica researches the raw materials with Chef Nicolò but then takes care of the pastry, which, unlike gourmet savory cooking, is difficult because it is much more scientific: Monica's desserts are traditional Veneto desserts such as zaeti, zabaglione, and fugasse.

"For me, reading cookbooks is pure bliss, I have a large collection of them. This love was passed on to me by my grandmother, who cooked for the whole family every day, each person having their favorite dish of the day."

Recently, Nane,was about to close and the owners were thinking of capitalising on the property to create a student residence for the richest students. Forgetting that Nane has always been a tavern since the end of the 14th century: "I don't know how important it is to fight at a certain point, maybe you have to give in to the changing times, you see that this is how it has to be. You can see that maybe a cycle is coming to an end, in any case, we have won and for a while, we will keep Nane, with its merits and its faults".

Close-up of a failed gentrifying episode.