Mietta’s Italian Family Recipes by Mietta O’Donnell

Welcome to Melbourne, where we pride ourselves on having the very best café and food landscape in Australia. We have this landscape because there are certain families and undeniable creative identities that years ago fostered a culture so rich and welcoming that we, as a city, have not dared to look back. Mietta O’Donnell and her family and friends represent such culinary trailblazers.

O’Donnell’s grandparents established a restaurant, Mario’s, when they first arrived here from Italy, which they ran for 30 years. Influenced by their entertainment flair, in 1974 Mietta, along with her partner Tony Knox, opened up the restaurant Mietta’s in North Fitzroy. And so it began: a Melbournian tradition of sharing and rejoicing. This beautifully presented cookbook is homage to such wondrous times and provides a concise, pleasing collection of recipes for classic Italian food. There are recipes for every antipasto dish you can imagine, recipes for pizzas and broths, for game and fish and for desserts.

Mietta’s Italian Family Recipes is also a history book. It is the tale of the people and places in our city. Each section has an introduction by Mietta musing on the importance of music, art, or theatre, and the people whose talents delighted her. The recipes in each section are simple, generous and achievable. However, don’t buy this book just for the recipes. Buy this book because you are proud to be a Melbournian and you want to know more about many of the people who have contributed to making this city the cultural heart of Australia. Buy this book because you believe in living well, together.


Chris Gordon