Featured Member: Italiano Please!

Italiano Please!

The family-owned and operated Italiano Please! is more than just a fabulous Roman food eatery and caterer. It is a social enterprise that helps empower differently abled communities, by giving them meaningful work.

COVID in Rome was one catalyst for the Lee/Petrini family to migrate to Calgary two years ago, with their dream of fostering an accepting, welcoming and safe work environment for their employees and customers. For executive director Barbara Lee, the move was a return to where she was raised.

Their passion to help others evolved through lived experience; their son, Fede, has a genetic illness. It was also important to them to consider their daughter Bea who is gay: “Those who identify as 2SLGBTQ+ aren’t well-received yet in Italy,” Barbara says, “For our son, it was just better to come to Calgary where I grew up—a great place to live for diverse communities and to establish a small social-enterprise business.”

A favourite lunchtime spot

Their rented stationary food truck is located in Calgary’s Ampersand building—a decided lure for lunchtime customers. “We love sharing our family and traditional recipes that change daily on a weekly rotation,” Barbara says. “Fresh, locally sourced ingredients go into every dish.”

With simple ingredients, Roman fare appeals to even the fussiest of foodies. “Each region in Italy has their peculiarities with food,” she says. “Roman food is very precise with no waste.” Recipes are made from the best in the pantry. On Wednesdays, for instance, we serve our salad consisting of old bread that has gone hard—but cook it up with lots of beautiful cut-up tomatoes, allow those juices to come through, softening the bread, and this dish has become a lunchtime favourite.” Barbara’s husband and culinary director, Lucio Petrini, notes that on Thursdays he makes 1,000 gnocchi and slices 22 pounds of potatoes! “No wonder my arms are sore,” he says.

Simple Roman food is also something the family can teach easily to their employees. “Everyone can make it,” Barbara says.

Event catering no matter the size

The family meets many clients at farmers’ markets throughout the city. “Sometimes we bring our vintage three-wheeled Ape truck from Italy, an agricultural vehicle that fits between rows of vines in the vineyards,” Barbara says. “It’s a big hit with customers and we’ve made it our logo.”

Their catering includes both private homes and large events. “We work out a menu with the client, bring our food to their kitchen and set up their party in private homes or at events,” she says. “We even provide live music, if desired. We’ve catered as few as two and as many as 225 people.”

Clients can expect the best. Lucio’s culinary expertise spans over four decades, while Barbara has transferred her skills of diplomacy and organizing public events for government embassies abroad to their business. “In our spare time in Italy, we also opened an organization to work with special needs communities, and we catered events for another organization.”

Expanding social enterprise

The family is now on the hunt for a larger space. The challenge is partnering with the right property owner for their business model and founding principles of inclusion and accessibility. “Presently, the food truck has little room for a big staff, but we’ve grown in popularity and are expanding as two take-out spaces that will allow us to accommodate more employees with special needs,” Barbara says.

Their plan for an attractive carryout space includes a once-a-week sit-down option; events can also be booked onsite and catered by the family. “We put together a lovely Roman long-table dinner,” Barbara says. “Paired with music, it’s a real Italian festa!”

The additional take-out space will be devoted solely to delicious Roman “pizza al taglio” (tray pizza sold by the slice) in the Ampersand food court.

“We’re working hard to get these two new ventures with an inclusive environment operating by late September,” Barbara says.

Inspiring technology

Assisted technology is a must for the family restaurateurs, so that all customers and employees feel included. “We’re installing LOOP technology for those with hearing devices, as well as braille signage and photo- or word-based signage,” Barbara says. “Our kitchen is going to be built to suit the varied needs of staff and our vehicle is Roman food that we make with love and passion.”

Small but mighty

The eatery is a small but growing business with social change at the helm. “We hope that other businesses will follow our example of inclusion,” Barbara says. “Our goal is to train our paid employees with special needs, build their confidence and sense of independence and then, help them move on to other supportive job experiences. We view ourselves as a stepping stone to further opportunities. Calgary has a few inclusive employers, but that number can always increase. One way to raise awareness is for us to give seminars and workshops to potential employers, because life would be a little brighter for people with disabilities and employers would get a lot of satisfaction and joy in providing room for this enthusiastic and hard-working group.”

Visit https://www.italianoplease.com/ for more information.