The secret recipe for the perfect Italian cannoli is one job redundancy, one newborn baby and a big dollop of pandemic.
With these three tricky ingredients, Paolo Valvoletti and fiance Giuliana Steppa opened Café Sisily in the toughest circumstances during the COVID lockdown.
Their pastry café at Golden Beach is now so popular there are long queues down the street before 6am, with customers hungry for a unique Italian treat.
Pastry chef Paolo had just been made redundant, Giuliana was on maternity leave and the coronavirus had sent Queensland into lockdown when they decided to pursue their dream.
It could have been the worst time to open a fledgling business, and the couple was limited to serving customers from a “hole in the wall”, with fewer offerings.
But Café Sisily quickly became the talk of the town for its three delectable varieties of cannoli – chocolate, vanilla and ricotta – hand made each day by Paolo.
The crispy fried pastry tubes, painted with chocolate and filled with a sweet, creamy custard or ricotta, are a staple of Sicilian cuisine but hard to come by on the Sunshine Coast.
Cannoli lovers often have to make a special trip to Brisbane to source authentic versions from Italian delis and pastry shops.
“Looking back now I’m glad we did it but at the time there was huge doubt that it would work,” Giuliana said.
“We didn’t know if people would spend the money and whether it would pay off or not.”
Paolo and Giuliana could never have predicted the overwhelming response.
“It was such a shock that there was such huge demand and people come at five or six in the morning and line up,” said Giuliana.
“To put a smile of people’s face with simple cannoli, it’s just mindboggling.
“I mean, we grew up with it, to us it’s like ‘What’s the fuss’ but a lot of people don’t have the luxury like we do of having it all the time with family.”
Having worked at his uncle’s Gerbino’s Italian Bakery in Ashgrove, Brisbane, Paolo’s dream was to open a similar shop on the Sunshine Coast.
“He wanted to replicate what he did at his uncle’s shop because he felt the demand was here; there is nowhere else on the Coast you can get cannoli,” Giuliana said.
The front counter of Café Sisily faces the street with a glass display cabinet lined with shelves of colourful, intricate and mouth-watering desserts.
Italian-born Paolo’s almond croissants are another crowd favourite, while others swear by his tiramisu and glossy cheesecakes.
“Most of the desserts have an Italian theme but Paolo (above) also makes a few different things like lemon meringue and experiments,” Giuliana said.
A small passionfruit raspberry cake was named in honour of his youngest daughter Eliana, 1, and a hazelnut tart named for eldest daughter Ada 2.5.
Café Sisily at 40 Landsborough Parade is open 7 days from 6am to 3pm for dining in and takeaway.
