A slice of Italy in Dunedin's St Clair

RNZ News

15-07-2025

Katrina Toovey has helped to bring about 40 or so Italians to Dunedin through her St Clair businesses The Esplanade, Piccolo Bar and Sorella Gelato.
Photo:
RNZ / Tess Brunton
Katrina Toovey has helped to bring about 40 or so Italians to Dunedin through her St Clair businesses The Esplanade, Piccolo Bar and Sorella Gelato.
A Dunedin seaside suburb is becoming a haven for Italian expats and foodies alike.
It all started with a desire to bring authentic woodfired pizzas to the shores of St Clair more than a decade ago.
When Katrina Toovey took over The Esplanade back in 2012, she wanted to embrace the history but thought it was time for a new identity.
The Esplanade in the Dunedin suburb of St Clair.
Photo:
RNZ / Tess Brunton
Less a Kiwi pizza restaurant and more an authentic slice of Italy.
But she had no idea the business would help to create a thriving, Italian community.
"Almost has been a happy accident and kind of an organic growth so when I did take over, I decided that I wanted to do woodfired pizza and I thought who better to do that than an Italian," she said.
The woodfire pizza oven at The Esplanade.
Photo:
RNZ / Tess Brunton
Since then, she has helped to bring about 40 or so Italians to Dunedin, saying there was also a stream of people who floated through on working holiday visas as well as a strong foundation of people in the community.
This year, she opened two more businesses - Piccolo Bar and Sorella Gelato - both a short stroll away from The Esplanade and St Clair beach.
"Sometimes I do look at it and I think 'how did this happen?' There's a whole community of people here including now children who've bubbled up through this business and through finding something that they like in the city and work they enjoy and a supportive environment," Toovey said.
The Esplanade restaurant manager Luca Capece moved to Dunedin for an adventure with his best friend, but now lives here with his partner and two kids.
Photo:
RNZ / Tess Brunton
Restaurant manager Luca Capece moved over when his best friend, who's a pizza chef, got a job at The Esplanade in 2013.
It changed his life.
He met his partner there and they now have two kids.
"I'm feeling at home here and ... we have a small community, Italian, but what I really enjoy and I was shocked how the Kiwi community treat us. They see us like a family," he said.
Capece said it had been a joy being able to speak Italian with other staff and get a taste of home - with a recent staff dinner featuring a traditional polenta dish from his hometown.
"When you eat polenta, it brings up all the memories from when your mum was cooking it and you were enjoying it. I come from a big family, we are 10 of us so I remember this big table and then we have some cheese, we have some polenta. It's beautiful," he said.
The Esplanade maître d' Vanessa Sanna says there's now about 30 people in their Italian community.
Photo:
RNZ / Tess Brunton
When Esplanade maître d' Vanessa Sanna moved to Dunedin with her Kiwi husband, she knew no one.
She started scouting for good Italian food and came across the restaurant.
"That was amazing the day that I step in for the first time, where I heard Italians talking to each other so I said 'oh my gosh, this is my place' ... I really missed the little Italian community and being so far away from home," she said.
Photo:
RNZ / Tess Brunton
She applied for a job there and has been working there for nearly 10 years
.
She loved how they shared food after closing, saying it helped to make Italy feel a little closer.
There were now about 30 people in their Italian community and they met up to eat and catch up, Sanna said.
"This Italian community is growing, many people come see us because they really enjoy this little Italian corner," she said.
"It feels like we are in a little Italian coast and you can have your Italian drinks, your Italian food and your Italian gelato, like that's just the cherry on the cake."
Gelato maker Marco Adinolfi says he tries to combine his knowledge and love for Italian gelato with some New Zealand flavours.
Photo:
RNZ / Tess Brunton
Gelato maker Marco Adinolfi moved to Dunedin to bring his creations to Sorella Gelato.
He wanted to leave Italy for a different lifestyle and was surprised to find an Italian community here.
He hoped his wife and two daughters would join him in a few months time, and said there were plans for a feast to welcome them to the southern city.
"Every Italian conversation with friends and family, it's about food. All the time my mum or my dad call me 'what did you eat?' It's the first thing so Italian connection with food is very important," he said.
The Esplanade at St Clair in Dunedin.
Photo:
RNZ / Tess Brunton
He has been trying to combine his knowledge and love for Italian gelato with some New Zealand flavours including a popular scoop inspired by pumpkin pie.
"Every flavour I make it's very seasonal. I don't like to use flavouring, chemical flavouring so everything is made by me," he said.
He loves clams and discovered he could find wild clams on local beaches.
"I go almost every week with my shovel to dig clams," he said.
He usually cooked spaghetti with clams for his lunch or dinner most weeks.
Katrina Toovey was grateful for the Italians who had uprooted their lives to move to Dunedin and shared their cuisine and culture with the city.
"The flavours, the smells, it's all like home and it's all familiar so ... it's like an anchor in a new community and they gravitate towards it," she said.
"It makes perfect sense to me, it's kind of what I might do myself when I travel - want the new experiences and then just want the familiar."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.