He was recognised “for his significant commitment to the Mildura community and the local restaurant industry.”

Now a legend of Italian cuisine in Australia, de Pieri has made the picturesque rural region of Victoria and his restaurant Stefano’s, on the edge of the iconic Murray River, an example of the perfect marriage of tradition and novelty.

To be successful and chase a better life, young Italian migrants escaping the misery and unemployment after World War II were often driven by economic necessity.

Stefano de Pieri, who arrived in Australia in 1974, was instead stimulated and driven by his ideas.

And it is precisely those strong convictions, those steadfast principles that have guided him over the years to “professional gratification” and the bestowal of numerous national awards.

He won the ‘Centenary Medal’ in 2001, established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and its most distinguished citizens.

“I certainly feel a strong sense of satisfaction,” he reveals.

“After 30 years of work, it feels like the crowning achievement of a lifetime’s work.

“I have received other honorary affirmations before, but this latest medal seems to conclude a long cycle.”

He came to Australia from the small town of Casier, in the province of Treviso, to find himself in Melbourne after being encouraged by his brother Sergio.

After studying at the Sydney Road Community School in Brunswick and graduating from the University of Melbourne with a degree in political science and Italian studies, he embarked on an early career in politics.

First as a writer with the Italian fortnightly Nuovo Paese, the Filef newspaper linked to the old Italian Communist Party, and then as private secretary to Minister Peter Spyker, before becoming an advisor to several ministers of Ethnic Affairs.

It was not until the early 1990s that de Pieri reinvented himself in Mildura, enchanted by the natural oasis that has since become his refuge.

Inspired by the area’s potential, wonderfully enriched by agriculture and culture, the chef wrote his popular book A Gondola on the Murray, which intersects his memories of the farmhouse in Veneto along the Sile River with his new life on the Murray.

“The orange groves, the olive trees, the palm trees, the eucalyptus trees -perhaps much more reminiscent of a Sicilian plain rather than a Venetian one -but the presence of the Murray River, just like the Sile, conceptually brought back a lot of childhood memories,” he recounted.

“I pitched the book unsuccessfully to family and friends, and presented it to many publishers, but at the time no one knew me, and especially no one knew Mildura.

“I kept pushing until I got to an ABC personality who saw in my text an opportunity to create a program that would showcase those Australian riches that were still little known.

“Eating is more than just feeding. Behind the food there are producers, territories, seasonal rhythms, there are people with emotions and pleasures.”

The successful television series A Gondola on the Murray guided him to national recognition.

“I had simply told the public not to forget a wonderful place like Mildura. I tried to highlight its beauty. Maybe I was in the right place at the right time,” he added.

Over the past three decades, at the site of his restaurant, de Pieri has created a labyrinth of old cellars and narrow tunnels lined with wooden chairs and tables.

A black and white photo of the Mildura Writers Festival he founded with others also appears on one of the restaurant walls, showing Helen Garner and Les Murray posing on the steps of an old cabin.

Today he also serves as a councillor at the Mildura Rural City Council, and has decided to devote himself fully to his community.

“In the past, we experienced an explosion of events," he said. 

We were the cradle of art in Australia. We made Mildura a very dynamic place and something still remains. 

“Maybe that’s why I was given this honour. Somehow I will have been an inspiration.”