SWEET PASSION ADDS TO LITTLE ITALY ON BELL STREET

Romanian chef Aimone Zanghirella’s sweet tooth and love for experimenting with ingredients has seen him score the leading pastry role at Bell Street’s latest addition, Dolce Passione.

Owned by Sicilian Salvatore Formica, boss of neighbouring restaurant il Matto,there’s no denying Torquay’s popular shopping strip is housing a host of ardent Italian foodies.

Salvatore launched his patisserie on Good Friday (April 19) and says the response has been positive, with many
Torquay locals piling in to taste the assortment of cakes and treats.

“I always wanted to do it (open a patisserie). I used to be a pastry chef, a gelato maker. Nobody can approve if it’s
not how I like it,” he says jokingly.

“There was a lot of people (on opening night) – friends, family, new customers. Normally people come out for dinner and then they want a dessert.”

The concept is simple – eat an authentic Italian meal at Il Matto before wandering over to Dolce Passione to polish off an evening of fine dining.

Il Matto, Italian for “the fool” or “the joker”, has been in operation for about two years. Despite its success and popularity among the community, Dolce Passione is a passion project for each of those involved, especially Aimone.

“I love what I do,” he says without hesitation.

“I wake up and I want to go to work. When I wake up and this job doesn’t give me what it’s giving me now, I’ll stop.”

The 30-year-old chef has worked in the food industry for nine years. He first travelled to Australia when he was 18 and says Aussies have an accurate perception of his country’s worldfamous cuisine.

“I think Australians love their Italian food. I can see in this restaurant (il Matto), it’s every time busy and in winter too, they (Aussies) love food. They love to eat good food – it doesn’t matter if it’s from France or Italy, they love good food,” Aimone says.

Driven by fresh produce and traditional flavours, Aimone tries to combine new ideas with classic Italian recipes to ignite his creativity.

“I like to change every time. I like to do everything fresh,” he says.

“Every day I wake up and say ‘okay, today I would like to use raspberry’, so I use everything with raspberry. I like
to use the products that are in season, and in Australia you have a lot because from everywhere, you have every
season. From Queensland you can use pineapple… in Italy we don’t have that.

“In Australia, you can have four seasons in one day,” he laughs.

Aimone’s knowledge of food has seen him work in restaurants around Europe, including Copenhagen and Switzerland
before taking on a teaching role in his birthplace, Rome, at the renowned Italian Chef Academy.

Inspired by his heritage and his experiences eating around the globe, Aimone says Italy is among the must-see
destinations for food.

“I have to say that, my country is one of the best in the world for food,” he says proudly.

“My favourite dish to make is babà which is a speciality from Naples. It’s a sponge cake, but we use inside dry yeast so it’s a little bit less heavy. Inside we use syrup and vanilla as well as all the tastes from Italy like lemon and orange. At the end, we put a little bit of rum. That’s my favourite dish.”

Patrons at Dolce Passione can find a host of authentic Italian cakes, biscuits, gelato, pastries and gelato made inhouse by Aimone and his team of two pastry chefs.

The space is light-filled and features wooden tables, a bar-style seating area fitted with high chairs, three display cabinets (with a fourth for gluten-free options on the way) and a state-of-theart Tech-Bar coffee machine.

Double glass doors lead to an outdoor seating area which is protected under large umbrellas, a prime spot to catch the afternoon sunlight while devouring one of Aimone’s desserts.

Dolce Passione, located at 4/15 Bell Street Torquay, is open Monday to Thursday from 8.30am-4.30pm, Friday and Saturday from 8.30am-9.30pm and Sunday from 8.30am-4.30pm.