On January 30, a lucky crowd gathered at the renowned Florentino restaurant in the heart of Melbourne for The Big Italian Australian Authors’ Dinner. It was an opportunity to “eat, talk and laugh”, just as Italians do around the table daily.

The event’s MC, who led the authors on a reflective journey through their careers, was the exuberant Catriona Rowntree, who has travelled more than anyone else thanks to hosting the television program Getaway for 29 years.

“There will be so many people in this room tonight who find inspiration in these extraordinary women,” Rowntree began. “They are an example of determination, love for family and writing in all its forms.”

Author and cooking instructor Bacchia was the first to take the microphone, leading the audience through a passage from her latest book, Adriatico.

The daughter of Italian migrants from the northeast of Italy, she grew up inspired by her mother - Livia, the food of Veneto and the wider northern Adriatic coast, and by the fresh produce grown in her father Nello’s garden.

During her reading, she recalled a special encounter with a young woman from Dorsoduro—the university district of Venice—who guided her through the wonders of the local market.

“And then the return to the city on her boat, among gondolas and water taxis, heading to her elegant Venetian apartment for a lavish dinner: pan-fried quail, seasoned baby cuttlefish, all washed down with Prosecco.”

Through her books—Italian Street Food, Istria, At Nonna’s Table—and her Italy on my Mind project that blends authentic recipes with her writing and photography, Bacchia continues to honour the deep bond with her family and their homeland.

Lo Bianco, a bestselling fiction writer whose works are now published worldwide, also shared the story of her professional journey, from her passionate career teaching Italian to her current success with books like The Italian Marriage, Love & Rome and Venetian Lessons in Love.

“I received 160 rejections from literary agents and publishers—that’s a lot of times to be told you’re not good enough,” she said. But Lo Bianco never lost sight of her goal, persevering until she achieved such success that she was able to leave her teaching job behind.

Gava realised she had to turn her strong passion for cooking into a real profession after competing in MasterChef Australia in 2017.

Her book, Pia’s Table, written and illustrated with nostalgic images of Italian-Australian homes, celebrates the history and traditions her family passes down through its generations.

“I treasure every moment shared with my parents. The annual sauce-making, my dad’s wine…,” Gava recounted from a passage in her book.

“I loved going to the market with my mother on Saturday mornings, and watching her cook confirmed that the only way to make a recipe was with ‘a handful of this and a pinch of that’.

“My favourite childhood memory is sitting on a step, watching my mother make pasta—and stealing as much of it as I could from the table.

“I’m grateful to my parents for the passion, the humble traditions and the home-cooked meals that I hold dear in my heart.”

Next up was the multi-award-winning journalist and author, Maria Pasquale, who also organised the intimate evening. Born in Melbourne to Italian parents, Pasquale always knew that “Italy was her destiny”.

Despite her background and professional experience in politics and history, Pasquale decided to move to the Eternal City to pursue her dream of writing, guided by the flavours and colours of the Bel Paese.

Recently named one of Rome’s most influential travel experts by La Repubblica, she has written for USA Today, CNN, Condé Nast and many others. Already the author of I Heart Rome, How to be Italian and The Eternal City, she recently released her fourth book, Mangia.

“I have known and loved Italy for a lifetime,” Pasquale said, reading a few pages from her latest book to the audience.

“In Mangia, I explore an Italy that has no single menu or uniform culture—you could almost describe it as 20 different countries in one, yet always united by conviviality, the art of being together.”

“Did you know that risotto will always taste better in the north? That spaghetti is never served with Bolognese sauce? That couscous is a typical dish in some parts of Sicily? Or that Tuscans make bread without salt?” she continued.

“But you will always remember how you felt when you ate your first pizza in Naples, when you licked ricotta off your fingers after devouring a cannolo in Sicily or when you tasted that Roman carbonara so perfect you never wanted it to end.

“Moments like these make me feel alive.”