From Milan to Tasmania: A Cross-Language Romance That Built Two Restaurants Across Continents

“We didn’t speak the same language, but somehow we understood each other better than words could explain.”

In 2013, Federica Andrisani left Milan for Marano Vicentino, a small town in Italy’s Veneto region, to work as a pastry chef at El Coq, a fine-dining restaurant led by one of Italy’s youngest Michelin-starred chefs.

The move marked a major professional step for Andrisani, who said she was determined to focus entirely on her culinary career and absorb everything she could from the demanding kitchen environment.

Living in a staff sharehouse alongside other restaurant employees, she spent long hours refining desserts and adapting to the high standards expected in a Michelin-starred setting. It was there, a year later, that she met Oskar Rossi, a visiting chef and longtime friend of her employer, whose arrival would alter both her personal and professional life.

Rossi had been working aboard a boat and was due to stay temporarily in the sharehouse while assisting the kitchen team with menu development. Their first meeting was brief and professional. During lunch and dinner service, Andrisani was brought to tableside to explain her desserts, while Rossi dined as a guest.

She recalled being struck by his appearance and confused by his background. Having been told he was from “Tasmania,” she initially misunderstood it as Tanzania, a place she was more familiar with than the Australian island state.The connection deepened later that evening during post-work drinks at the staff house.

With no shared spoken language between them, the two relied heavily on Google Translate, spending hours communicating through translated messages. By early morning, the conversation had turned personal, and what Andrisani initially assumed would be a short-lived romance had begun.At the time, she viewed the relationship as temporary. Rossi was expected to leave within weeks, and Andrisani said she had little interest in pursuing anything serious.

Her priority remained her profession, and she believed the brief affair would end naturally with his departure.That assumption changed when Rossi unexpectedly returned after leaving. During a dinner service, as the kitchen’s sliding doors opened, Andrisani saw him walk back into the restaurant from a snowy evening outside.

She described the moment as cinematic: the contrast between the intense heat and noise of the kitchen behind her and his quiet reappearance from the cold made an immediate impression.Although she was in the middle of service and could only exchange a brief glance, she said the encounter made her realize she was happier to see him than she had expected.

Later that night, as she prepared to leave work, Rossi approached her in the parking area and casually asked for a lift back to the staff house.She agreed without hesitation. Within two weeks, the pair had moved into a small apartment together, one without hot water but, according to Andrisani, full of shared ambition.

Their conversations about the future continued through translation apps, and among those discussions was the idea of opening a restaurant together.The relationship developed not only emotionally but professionally. Both worked in kitchens and shared similar creative instincts. Andrisani said their ability to collaborate in food preparation and menu planning created a natural partnership.

Despite the language barrier, she said they communicated effectively through work, routine, and mutual understanding.Three months later, the couple moved to Tasmania. Andrisani had secured a one-year working holiday visa, and their original intention was straightforward: save money in Australia and eventually return to Italy to open a restaurant there.Instead, the local response in Hobart shifted those plans.

The couple began hosting pop-up dining events, and demand for their food grew quickly. What had started as a temporary relocation became the foundation for a longer-term business decision.After returning briefly to Italy and navigating visa-related complications, they chose to establish themselves permanently in Tasmania.

In 2016, they opened Fico, a restaurant in Hobart that reflected both Italian culinary traditions and contemporary fine dining influences. The restaurant became a significant step in their joint professional identity.Five years later, the couple married. In 2024, they expanded again with the opening of their second venue, Pitzi, further embedding their presence in Tasmania’s hospitality sector.

Andrisani said language remained a challenge for years after their move. She estimated it took around five years before she became fully fluent in English. During that period, the couple continued building both their business and their relationship while navigating cultural and practical differences.

She noted that increased fluency brought a different stage of partnership. Communication became more nuanced, but also introduced more opportunities for disagreement and friction. What had initially felt like a romantic leap built on instinct gradually matured into a more conventional adult partnership shaped by responsibility, work, and long-term planning.

Even so, she said the foundation of their relationship remained unchanged. The early trust established when they depended almost entirely on translated conversations had not weakened with time or language.Looking back, Andrisani said the path still feels improbable: moving from Milan to a small town in northern Italy, meeting someone she could barely speak to, relocating to a part of Australia she had never heard of, and eventually building a marriage and two restaurants there.

What began as a brief encounter in a restaurant kitchen evolved into a personal and professional partnership spanning continents.

For Andrisani, the fact that much of it started through Google Translate remains less surprising than the durability of what followed.“We didn’t speak the same language,” she said, “but somehow we understood each other.”