It’s 5pm on a Sunday night and everyone at the Altavilla Club is talking about tripe.
“You’ve got to try the trippa,” says one regular, as he holds a bowl of steaming stomach lining in a soupy tomato sauce. “It’s our speciality.”
“No one’s shy here,” says club president Dominic Reppucci, who works the room with a level of familiarity that makes you swear they’re all related. “Everyone is welcome. People walk in off the street and all of a sudden, they’re part of the family. They come once and keep coming back.”
Reppucci is joined by a team of volunteers looking to preserve Italian culture. On Friday and Sunday nights, they open their doors to the public.
The walls are strung with pictures of Altavilla Irpina, a small town in Campania in Italy. Since 1925, more than 5500 people from Altavilla have made Adelaide their home. In 1957, the Altavilla Club was established as a social club with its own soccer team for these immigrants.
Sixty-eight years later, their descendants and new arrivals continue to gather in the unassuming, narrow building in Beulah Park. They’re drawn in by its generous, affordable food and an atmosphere pulsating with energy.
The spaghetti alle vongole is also a drawcard. It arrives served to share in a tumble of olive oil, chilli flakes, parsley and white wine. The Altavilla pizza topped with “a bit of everything” is a crowd-pleaser.
The trippa lives up to its sales pitch: rich, textured, challenging and, ultimately, comforting. “Making the trippa is a two-day process,” says Reppucci. “The sauce is delicious. We can do 100 litres at a time.”
The night’s capped off with sfogliatella, a crisp pastry with a sweet, creamy filling.
It’s a veritable feast, all prepared by an army of nonnas, nonnos and ring-ins, some of whom have volunteered at the club for decades. Among them is 86-year-old Etta, whose well-worn hands have crafted pasta and pizza bases here for 35 years. Etta doesn’t speak much English, but the glimmer in her eyes indicates just how much the kitchen camaraderie means to her.
“It’s family, the ladies in the kitchen,” Reppucci says. “They volunteer here for the friendship. It’s good to be with people rather than sitting at home.”
Each volunteer found a unique path to the club. There’s Carlo who came in 40 years ago for his mother’s 90th birthday and got roped into returning when Reppucci saw him carry some plates and clocked his hospo background. “He now lives in Queensland but when he’s back in Adelaide for a holiday he comes in and helps us,” the president says.
Bob found the club by chance, having parked out front to wait for his wife to finish shopping. “He got bored and came in for a drink,” says Reppucci. “We got talking to him, then he came in again the next night… Two weeks later he was in the kitchen and has never moved!”
Bob laughs. “I love it,” he says. “They’ve become like family.”
When it’s not open for public events, the club keeps busy with its own schedule. The last Thursday of the month is dedicated to the older generation, who dance to live traditional music and pour glasses of local and Italian wines.
The rest of the time the focus is on families. It’s common to see kids darting between tables, hands sticky with tomato sauce. Once the pizza is scoffed, they perch around a freezer full of ice-cream like pigeons pecking around a fast food joint.
“When I first became president, we used to get 40 people. Everybody thought it was busy back then. Now we get 150 people and think it’s quiet,” says Reppucci.
At the heart of it all, they want to honour the memories of the original migrants and keep the next generation engaged. “That’s what we keep striving for,” he says, “to keep the traditions alive, which is getting harder and harder to do. If we don’t do it, no one will.”
Altavilla Irpina Community Club
281 The Parade, Beulah Park
(08) 8331 0631
Hours:
Open to the public Fri & Sun 5pm–late
altavillaclub.com.au
On May 25, as part of South Australia’s History Festival, Katie Spain is hosting Welcome to our Table: Altavilla Club, an Italian Feast. The three-course dinner and Q&A will shine a light on the club’s rich culinary traditions.
Dining and Cooking