An 8th Generation Italian Food Connoisseur descending from the Godfather Pino Tomini Foresti. Food! What a glorious concept invented by human beings in order to survive, grow and obtain energy to create beautiful masterpieces in life. In my view, food is the epitome of life as it goes through cycles and patterns like we do. My name is Carla Tomini Foresti and I was born in Sydney in 1983 to an Cal
abrese family. My family owns the iconic and prestigious Pino’s Dolce Vita Fine Foods located in Kogarah. The food that is created by the Tomini Foresti family is based around love, passion and ambition. They are true artisan producers of small goods that utilise traditional methods of cooking which have been passed down through seven generations of family. It is with great pleasure that my family brought these master class techniques to Australia from Italy over 30 years ago. To many people I am known as Carla the cook and Carla the shoe enthusiast. To those who know my passion within food, I am known as the butcher’s daughter. I have grown up in an environment where food has been present on any given day. Throughout my years of living no matter what direction I look in food exists. The perfect way to describe my relationship with food is respect. I have been able to learn from a child the importance of fresh ingredients and cooking with knowledge. I did not grow up like a traditional Italian girl. Instead, I rebelled against the customs and rules of my cultural heritage to explore my sense of self and the identity I have grown into. I must admit that I was very lucky to have two Nonne’s who demonstrated and taught me the art of Calabrese food, my mother ‘Pia’ who continued the art and my father ‘Pino’ who opened up my heart to the love of food. I am forever grateful to those key influential people in my life that allowed me to discover the essential structure of recipes and what they can be translated into. Every scoop of something delicious is worth the time invested. To anyone out there that has a dream and passion, please make sure you follow the steps towards your ultimate goal. My transformation was rapid when it comes to cooking. I went from someone who hated cooking to someone that cooked exactly like my Nonna. All of my adventures in life have been up and down. In 2011, I travelled to the USA and had a life changing experience. I made the visit to Little Italy in New York City. This is when I gained the courage to live out my dreams. Within seconds I was sharing stories with others on the streets about my food journey. The reactions were priceless because of the honesty we were all expressing. This has led me to an exceptional discovery and a project that will be before your eyes soon. I want the world to understand what the four-letter word of ‘food’ can do in seconds, minutes and hours. My hands are made for delivering artworks on plates to those who are willing to dive into the deep end and explore.
