Mother, grandmother, cook and entrepreneur. Trattoria Dall’Olio mourns its historic founder, Anna Maria Dall’Olio, who passed away a week ago at the age of 90, after an intense life spent between work and family. Since the 1950s, Anna Maria has never missed a day of work, becoming the backbone of the family’s local shop, which transformed, in the 1990s, into the trattoria on Via Scandellara that all the people of Bologna know.
“My mother was the promoter of our business – says her son Dario Dall’Olio –. She left her job as a typist to take over my father’s local shop. But from bread to cured meats, my mother decided to open the doors to the kitchen, shifting the focus of the activity to catering”. And so the trattoria was born, which still today “is a point of reference outside the city walls, where we offer typical traditional dishes – explains the son –. My mother offered basic dishes, but we decided to broaden the choice and offer different dishes. And for years, our founder has worked with my granddaughter, accompanying the generational change.”
Anna Maria’s workhorses? It’s simple: “He prepared tagliatelle that he rolled by hand – continues Dall’Olio –, lasagne and cannelloni. All wet dishes, such as meatballs or stuffed courgettes. For desserts, he was unbeatable on rice cake”. But Anna Maria, in addition to being a great mother, covered the role of an entrepreneur, breaking down gender stereotypes. “We lose a point of reference – adds Dall’Olio –. My mother was a very strong, hard-working woman and she never gave up: her goals always had to be achieved. She was a woman from another era”. Now the customers and the restaurant, which is family-run, will have to deal with missing her. “We felt a lot of closeness – concludes the son –. Our historic customers are few in number, but, despite the generational change, everyone has been close to us. My phone is full of messages. In the future we will think about how to best remember and celebrate it “.
