Growing up with two parents from the Napoli region in southern Italy, Deanna Pallotta’s home was always busy with visitors.
“I grew up with my mum and my dad putting on the best displays of food and welcoming all the family in,” she recalls.
And those two pillars are at the centre of her latest venture.
“It honestly was never a dream of mine to open a restaurant,” she admits.
“I just wanted to create a place where people could feel welcome and comfortable.
But I’m Italian, and we think the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach, so what better way to make people feel comfortable and welcome than having a restaurant?”
Located at 163 Magill Rd, Maylands, Sognare Italiano puts the focus firmly on the southern Italian roots of the Pallotta clan.
Despite the presence of a large wood oven, you won’t find any pizza on the seasonal menu.
Instead, diners can expect traditional antipasti, housemade pastas and plenty of seafood.
One of the standouts at the moment is the spada e zucchini.
“Swordfish is huge in Italy at the moment,” explains Deanna, and the zucchini roll filled with swordfish and topped with edible flowers is “to die for.”
The Adelaide dining landscape is already crowded with modern Italian restaurants, so Sognare has a strong focus on traditional Italian cuisine.
“I want people who have grown up in an Italian household to recognise the dishes they had when they were younger,” says Deanna.
That’s why Sognare is a true family affair.
“It’s my name on the books, but this has been a massive team effort by my family and everyone around me,” she admits.
“It is very much a shared community; my mum and dad are always here, and I have either family or friends coming in every single night.
Honestly, it feels pretty similar to the family gatherings we used to have.
But instead of my mum cooking, now there are chefs in the kitchen.”
One thing that has changed is the setting, and anyone driving down Magill Road after dark will have noticed the striking burgundy colour scheme.
Inspired by the suburban bars of Melbourne, Deanna wanted to create “a modern take on an old school Italian restaurant.”
That means plenty of timber and thick velvet curtains, along with a disco ball glittering above the DJ decks and a curved bar that helps to soften the space.
“It looks beautiful during the day,” Deanna says, “but when you dim the lights and have only the table lamps at night, it’s incredible.”
Once everything is running smoothly, she plans to bring in a DJ after dinner on Friday and Saturday nights and serve a late-night menu of bar snacks.
“At the end of the day,” she says, “this is a place to have fun.
I want to create a place that people feel comfortable and welcome, a place where they feel like they belong.”
Visit today
163 Magill Road, Maylands
W: https://www.sognareitaliano.com.au/
I: /sognareitaliano_
Dining and Cooking