The story of Ornella’s Kitchen begins 1850 miles away in the charming seaside village of Castel Di Tusa on Scilly's north coast. Located around 60 miles east of Palermo and 90 miles west of Messina, this tiny village, home to around 1000 people, is famous for its tuna fishing nets and delicious produce.
It was here that Ornella Cancila was born and raised, before moving to Bologna aged 19 to study to become a teacher. Growing up, she was surrounded by delicious home-cooked food whipped up by her father Antonio at his restaurant, La Campagnola.
Blessed with incredible ingredients, from calamari and octopus to artichokes and mushrooms, Antonio’s restaurant made the very best of Sicilian produce to create traditional fare popular in the region like pasta with fresh sardines and wild fennel. Anyone who has visited the island will no doubt have come across its moreish street food as well, like arancini, pane e panelle - fried chickpea dumplings - and sfincione, a type of Sicilian pizza.
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When Ornella’s father passed away 13 years ago, the family sold the restaurant and, gradually, one by one, they all moved away, including her mother who went to live with one of Ornella’s sisters in Rome. Since then Ornella has completed her teacher training, taught in a primary school in Italy, and made the move to Manchester - but her hometown and her father’s restaurant has always stayed in her heart.
“My dream was always to carry on what my father did,” Ornella tells me as we sit down in her restaurant, Ornella’s Kitchen and deli, which opened on Manchester Road in Denton earlier this year. “When I came to Manchester I worked as a waitress in a few places and then someone at Pollen bakery gave me the opportunity to jump into the kitchen, and I just went from there.”
While on maternity leave from her job at Pollen, and during the UK’s lockdown, Ornella began delivering homemade Italian food across Manchester with her partner Jamie, and it wasn't long before her Sicilian-inspired pasta dishes became the talk of the town. This provided the springboard to realise her dream of serving up dishes reminiscent of home.
Stocking her larder with produce from Italian suppliers like Amato, who stock Mediterranean products like guanciale - an Italian cured meat prepared from pork jowl or cheeks, which Ornella cuts up, fries until crispy and tops her carbonara and amatriciana pastas with - what comes out of the kitchen here is a masterclass in Sicilian cuisine.
"I’ve modelled it off my dad’s restaurant and the dishes he served there, but some of the ingredients, like wild fennel for example, can be so hard to find. In Sicily they just grow down the street, but here it takes ages and there’s only one supplier.
"I’ve been looking for a long time for the right suppliers for the best ingredients, and I’m just trying to keep as close as possible to my mum and dad’s restaurant. My dad used to do a lot of pasta with seafood in his restaurant and so I’ve tried to do that - hopefully I’ve kept the standard high for him."
One thing is certain: when you visit Ornella's you will find some of the finest pasta dishes in Greater Manchester. Whether it's the raved-about lobster ravioli, generously portioned rigatoni amatriciana with crispy guanciale, or creamy sausage pappardelle topped with shallots, every dish here is served with heart. "We use a lot of guanciale," smiles Ornella. "We take six slices and roast them in a pan just to make it nice and crispy, and we use the fat in the sauce sometimes to make it juicy.”
Pappardelle with wild fennel and anchovies served with sultanas and toasted pine nuts also feature, as does squid ink tagliatelle with toasted pangrattato and chilli flakes - dishes synonymous with Sicily and Ornella's roots. Alongside pasta, there's also a variety of filled focaccia, not least Emiliana made with Parma ham, pesto and mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes, and the Romana made with porchetta, crispy onion, fresh spinach and hot apple honey.
"My boyfriend Jamie is English and he told me that English people like pork with apple, so I started thinking how I could interpret that, so we put the porchetta with honey and chilli, which caramelises and it works really well. Focaccia comes from our Italian bread supplier and sourdough from Pollen."
If you're peckish before lunch, Ornella serves brunch items too, some with an Italian twist like the eggs with Italian sausage and crispy guanciale and slow roasted tomatoes, or the eggs with Parma ham, truffle and mushrooms. Nodding to Sicily's street food culture, small plates like nduja and mozzarella arancini with hot honey dip, and burrata with zucchini, cucumber and toasted hazelnuts round off Ornella's sizable menu. Though let's not forget the Sicilian cannoli that sit proudly in the window display and the brioche bun with pistachio gelato - just in case you have space left for desserts.
While Ornella’s dad may not be around to see the result of his daughter’s hard work, the response of the local community - I’m here on a Tuesday lunchtime and it’s standing room only - speaks volumes. Bringing a little slice of Italy to Denton, it’s enough to make any Sicilian proud.
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