Fran Mazza

Fran Mazza grew up in an Italian family and travelled back and forth to Italy as a child. Her Italian father taught her to cook, and her Australian mother taught her how to manage money, and what food would be popular 'down under'. But a larger Italian sensibility has been important to Fran - the idea that food binds the family, and that family is more than just people living in the same house. It's the neighbourhood, the community. In her father's town, cafes were places to meet your neighbours and places for your neighbours to meet you. She and her husband and business partner Aaron have tried to make that a part of each cafe they have opened. Fran says "We wanted to introduce more than just good food to our neighbourhood. We wanted people to feel like they were part of a neighbourhood."