Italian-Australian Liliana Kain wraps her mouth around a true-blue Aussie accent with just a pinch of the tones of her homeland from which she emigrated with her parents when she was seven years old.
But her food journey is as rich as the seven layers she builds into her lasagne – one of the most popular dishes on the menu at Liliana's Trattoria, perched along one of the most coveted oceanfront streets in the Sunshine Coast's Maroochydore.
Liliana has little memory of the one-month journey aboard the ship which brought her family to Australia several decades ago, apart from a vague recollection of sitting in a park framed by Sydney Harbour, captured in an old photograph. Nor does she remember much of school in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.
But ask her about cooking and she basks in the "basic simple flavours" she learned from her mother, now 94.
My mum's been here a couple of times and she loved the food. She said my lasagne's better than hers but I doubt it.
"We came from Marche, a little town up in the hills of central Italy, and they used to cook meals with only what they had so things like chicken and pork," Kain says. "It wasn't anything flash."
Liliana's foray into food was with her late husband and baker, Kip, at a hot bread kitchen in the coastal suburb of Cotton Tree in 1972. Then they opened another one at Kawana Shoppingworld before running Danilo's Cafe in 1992, which is located on the same street as Liliana's Trattoria. They also had a popcorn shop in Brisbane and a cafe-restaurant in Caloundra.
Kip and Liliana eventually retired for 10 years, but sadly, Kip passed in September 2021.
Months later, a family friend, Scott Hoskins, joined Liliana, her three children and her seven grandchildren for one of Liliana's traditional Italian Sunday dinners and convinced her that a trattoria bearing her name had all the right ingredients. Fast forward to July 2022 and they partnered to form Liliana's Trattoria.
"Initially, I was a bit reluctant because I had just lost Kip and I didn't want to work too much but I didn't want to stay at home either," says Liliana who spends a few hours most days at the restaurant advising the revolving crew of six chefs on her recipes and making desserts.
"I'm pretty strict. I come and taste the food and will tell them if I think it needs a bit of this or that," she says.
It's an open restaurant, set up like her home kitchen, where you can see the chefs preparing the food.
"It's about great food, great service, consistency and an authentic Italian experience."
Liliana's signature dish is her gnocchi made from potatoes (mashed in a ricer), egg and flour (but not too much flour), and served with a beef cheek sauce. She makes it for her grandchildren when they visit. "I love it when they come and tell me it's delicious," she says.
On the menu, you'll also find all the Italian favourites. There's "Liliana's pasta sauce", which she says is not bolognaise but a pork, chicken mince, tomatoes and passata sauce with "lots of herbs and spices".
It's given me a purpose. It gets me up in the morning, and I think, 'what can I do at the restaurant today?
Wood-fired pizzas are a nod to home. They feature cousin Giuseppe's secret dough from his pizzeria in Italy. And the wine list reads like an Italian novella with everything from Sicilian chardonnay to Abruzzo Montepulciano, not to mention a palate-cleansing limoncello.
Her establishment has become more than a trattoria; it's her next chapter in life.
"It's given me a purpose. It gets me up in the morning, and I think, 'what can I do at the restaurant today?" she says.
"My husband would have been so proud and my family all think it is amazing."
It's important for her to keep her family traditions going.
"My mum's been here a couple of times and she loved the food. She said my lasagne's better than hers but I doubt it."
Maroochydore, Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Sunday–Thursday: 11:30am-2pm and 5pm-9pm
Friday-Saturday: 11:30am–2:30pm and 5pm-10pm
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