Chef Of Private Diner Casa Nostra Locked Down In Italy With S’porean Family

Covid-19 first emerged in Singapore towards the end of January. While the full nature of the virus was pretty much a question mark back then, amid growing concerns of the reported number of confirmed cases versus ‘silent’ spreaders, I decided to put Casa Nostra’s private dining activities on hold temporarily as a precautionary measure. After all, Casa Nostra is just what the name says: “our house” (in Italian). Amid uncertainty over the spread of the virus, having close to 250 people a month coming through the door posed a substantial threat to my family who’s living within those premises. Given that Casa Nostra was on pause mode and our fashion (bag) wholesale business could largely be done remotely, I resumed a conversation I had some time back with someone who required my help as a consultant for an IT project which required me to be based in Italy for a few months.

My hometown, Belluno, is located in the north of Veneto in a valley among the Dolomites mountain range. We were so excited to finally spend more time there, with the opportunity to travel around the area and do whatever we couldn’t squeeze into a short holiday trip in the past. We managed to organise this trip quite rapidly and took along the whole family, which includes my wife, daughter, 5, and son, 7. We’d planned to home-school them during this period.

We had a wonderful arrival in Belluno on February 18, at a vacant property owned by family friends. It’s a fabulous three-storey detached house located at the edge of the city. There’s a large garden with flowers and space for growing our own vegetables. The kitchen is traditionally designed Belluno-style, with a fireplace and a fire stove which is typically used to cook polenta or roast things like cheese and corn. The owner who used to live here was a solicitor and was very fond of old literature and art, so we are surrounded by statues, paintings and books. Furthermore, the house faces the mountains where multiple paths lead to the most amazing and scenic walks. We quickly got into the swing of true Italian family life, opening the shutters to breathtaking views in the mornings, spending more time with the kids from home schooling and playing in the garden, to weekend shopping at the vegetable and cheese markets.

We went for a day trip to Venice for the Carnival with my sister and the kids. This year, the Carnival was unprecedently less crowded than usual, but that didn’t come as a surprise since Covid-19 had already affected travel plans globally. The reduced crowd actually improved our experience there as we could move around more freely and there was sufficient space to take pictures of the amazing costumed folk in Piazza San Marco. But it was on this day that my sister read the news while I was driving back from Venice. It was news that changed our lives in Italy for the foreseeable future, as well as the lives of millions of Italians, Europeans, and I daresay the whole of the western world. There was a first confirmed case of a patient with Covid-19 in Codogno, Lombardy. Only a few hours later, another two cases were discovered in Vó, Padova, Veneto.

There were initially only a few cases, but there was a deep feeling of discomfort because we were aware of the potential consequences. Such seemed to be the response of the whole population in the North, that cities and villages in Lombardia and Veneto suddenly went quiet. Everyone was scared. The media followed up to that reaction by giving a very reassuring message — that this virus was just like the regular flu, that it would affect only the elderly with pre-existing medical conditions, and that we shouldn’t overreact. This second message was well received by a large part of the population, who all then went back to the streets partying and having fun as if everything was normal.

Unfortunately, cases kept popping up in larger numbers, and spreading beyond those clusters, until the government had to change the tone of its messages to the population: Covid-19 is nothing like the regular flu, and it’s not only deadly for the elderly or those with pre-existing conditions, it’s very contagious, and it’s going to send our whole healthcare system into an irreversible crisis. In conjunction with this new stronger message, the government completely locked down the two clusters, also called “red areas”, and imposed restrictions across Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna, such as no gatherings and mandatory distances of a minimum of one meter at all public places, among other regulations.

Pictured: Antonio's garden in Italy

Yet, the virus continued to spread and numbers kept going up. And with those numbers, the fear grew too. Fear isn’t triggered all at once. It sneaks in slowly, day by day when you read the news and observe this unstoppable force breaking all the barriers we try to set against it, until you realise it’s not just a wave, it’s an unstoppable tsunami. That’s what most sensible people felt (aside from the minority who still dare to believe this is just a flu), and unfortunately how the government responded too. After some regional restrictions imposed from the 7th of March, it was only on the 11th of March that the Prime Minister imposed a nationwide state of emergency and total lockdown.

This unfortunately came a bit too late. Mixed messages at the beginning of the epidemic and a delay in imposing strict containment measures led to the virus going beyond containment. The same thing happened shortly after in every other European country, starting from Germany, which reportedly is where the Italian epidemic was imported from. The truth is, none of the countries in the West seem to have been prepared for this. Furthermore, if a total shutdown had been implemented right at the start of the epidemic, most of the population and the political parties would have perceived such a measure as overkill.

This is the extent of the lockdown measures up to April 3 (a date which will probably be extended):

- All bars, shops and restaurants are closed.

- Only essential services and shops are open (food suppliers, pharmacies and newsagents).

- People are allowed out of their house for only these three reasons: Work (in essential industries like basic food supplies, logistics, military & law enforcement, certain government services), for health-related issues and to buy basic necessities such as groceries.

All movements must be limited to one’s “commune” of residence, which in the case of my hometown is an area of about 150 sqkm, and has 35,000 people. People however, continued to move around for the wrong reasons, and police checks led to about 50,000 infringements in the first seven days after the lockdown, with each fine costing the offender between 400 EUR to 3,000 EUR (S$630 - S$4,728). For example, in Codogno which was the epicentre in Lombardy, a couple managed to escape and go on a skiing holiday. They were later found and tested positive for Covid-19. Luckily, increasing checks as well as strong messages from the media have managed to improve the situation over time.

Pictured: Antonio's kitchen in Italy

The restrictions have of course affected our daily decisions, our freedom to enjoy Italy 360, the choice to visit new places, shop anywhere, try new restaurants and meet old friends. All of this have been taken away, and life has turned inwards within the walls of our house, with only the four of us for company. My parents and sisters live only 1km away from us, yet, we can’t meet them face to face and from that perspective, it’s as good as us being back home in Singapore. The few shops that are open only allow a few customers in at a time to enforce a minimum of a 1-metre distance between people. Such notices are clearly displayed everywhere. In big cities such as Milan or Rome, this has caused long queues at shops and cashiers at the supermarkets. However, not here in quiet Belluno which so far has remained liveable even in an emergency such as this.

9am: I go on video calls for my IT work while the kids start their home schooling with my wife.

Noon: My turn to do some home schooling for English or maths for an hour.

1pm: Cooking and lunch, but I must whip up a meal quickly as we want to sit down and eat by 1.30pm and complete by 2pm.

2pm: My wife does the housework and the kids play in the garden or in their room, while I continue with my work.

4pm: We used to hike for two hours on the surrounding mountains or spend time buying groceries at the supermarket. However the latest regulations prohibited going for walks more than 200 metres from your property and only one person can go to the supermarket at a time. So now, we either go for a walk a round the block within the allowed distance, or I go to the supermarket alone — I try to shop a maximum of twice a week.

6pm: Play board games or jigsaw puzzles with the kids, or just check on the latest updates on Covid-19

7pm: Cook dinner. This is a bit more comfortable than lunch as I have one whole hour for preparation.

8pm: Have dinner with the kids.

9pm: WhatsApp video calls with my family and friends for updates on one another's lives. Luckily we took the Nintendo Switch with us, which is the main after-dinner entertainment for our kids. They weren’t allowed to play video games back in Singapore, so this is a new experience for them.

10:30pm: Quiz time with the kids to check on what they’ve learnt for the day before they go to bed. The winner is awarded an extra slice of salami or cheese the next day.

11pm: Finally, couple time with my wife. We watch our favourite shows on Netflix.

Midnight: Time for bed.

The things that we dedicate most time to now are my IT work and home schooling. Work is straightforward — it’s my job and I know what to expect. The challenge arose with the containment measures, which discourage people from meeting up or travelling for work reasons, unless really necessary. Therefore, any meetings I had lined up have been postponed or converted to video calls. This kills the whole point of coming to Italy to do whatever I had to, but it’s the new normal and we all have to work around it. Less straightforward as we — especially I — had no exposure to it, is home schooling. Our plan for this period was in any case to resort to home schooling, since there are no international schools where we’re located, and also since our planned stay here was about three months. In this respect, the lockdown has not made a difference for us, but it has been a killer for all those Italian families who suddenly have to take care of their children due to closure of the schools.

Being in a lockdown by yourself means more me-time, but being in a lockdown with the kids means having more time with the them at home and that certainly isn't easy. So besides the activities which we've been already doing prior to the lockdown, we had to become even more creative and adventurous.

We were already making different types of pasta with the kids when we first arrived in Italy. Now, we have ventured into cookies and pancakes. We play treasure hunt regularly, taking turns to be the one hiding the treasure and the kids love the thrill. Recently, my wife made a bubble solution for them to blow bubbles in the garden. And my son created his own card game with numerous monstrous characters while my daughter created her own ball game with very weird rules, but we happily obliged.

The most important thing during such a crisis is to keep in touch with friends and family. Besides the daily calls with family members, I have been in regular contact with friends from all over Italy and other countries such as the UK, US and Brazil to keep up to date on the global situation on the ground. A friend from Lombardy reported that in recent days, all he saw on Facebook were condolences. Death report pages on his town’s local paper went from 1.5 to 10 per day. The sound of ambulances going back and forth is nonstop, and funeral service companies have collapsed partly because some of their personnel got sick, and also because of the unprecedented volume of deaths they now have to deal with. It is unfortunate that I can’t meet my family face to face and we have to rely on technology to see each other. Yet, I am happy that I am here with them during this difficult time.

Our highlight up until the 20th of March has been our daily walks within the surrounds of Belluno. We explored quite a few isolated paths which provided us with some exercise, and also gave the kids the opportunity to experience nature in ways that Singapore can’t offer. Our walks have been typically two hours long, either in the woods or on mountain paths, or within the valley, surrounded by mountains. The kids could enjoy activities like collecting flowers and wild radicchio (a delicacy this season), feeding horses and donkeys, or hiking competitions (of course all within the family). I have rediscovered some of the walks I used to take when I was little, and places that I haven’t seen in almost 40 years. Sadly, the new government directive has put a stop to all of that. Because allowing people to walk around to take in some fresh air has not paid off in bigger cities, where you could end up with crowded parks and other public spaces.

Even grocery shopping has been further limited as I used to be able to go with my wife, but now only one person can go at a time. While in Belluno, supermarkets are never that busy and there is plenty of space for everyone to shop at a safe distance, big cities such as Milan or Rome have suffered from long queues. Recently, I read on the news that in Milan they had queues at supermarkets from as early as 6.30am in the morning. With such crowded situations, the government is doing whatever it can to reduce human traffic.

Cooking twice a day has been the norm here as we have had no opportunity to go and eat out since we arrived. Lunches tend to be quicker as we are on quite a tight schedule. However, if you are cooking Italian food, it’s so much easier to whip up a quick lunch here compared to in Singapore. You can find so many ingredients at the supermarket that I could only dream of in Singapore. From vegetables to meats, fish and cheeses and even ready-to-cook stuff, I can see how Italian housewives are spoilt for choice here. We don’t have any delivery services in such a small town, so everybody cooks at home, and supermarkets cater for that level of variety.

There has been no significant shortage of ingredients in my hometown so far, but in larger cities it has been a struggle. Apparently, basic commodities such as yeast, flour and pasta have sold out in many large cities. You can guess that my biggest wish was to make some pizza here, but unfortunately I had some bad luck with operating the oven in the kitchen. It worked inconsistently and eventually, it blew up.

I ended up making a Montanara (a traditional Neapolitan fried pizza), which my kids went crazy for, as I've never made this for them before. The most requested dish has been the homemade passatelli (pasta made with bread crumbs, eggs, grated Parmesan cheese; pictured in previous photo) in broth. And also my homemade pappardelle in wild boar ragú.

For me the real novelty here is cooking amazingly fresh fish. My personal favorite is monkfish cheeks (pictured) with roasted peppers, and sgombro in umido (mackerel cooked with mixed tomatoes). These dishes are such a great showcase of fresh produce.

More amazingly, we can now get the kids to eat orecchiette with broccoli here — something that they would never have touched in Singapore. But in Italy, the produce is so good that even they can appreciate it.

A month into being here, my wife started craving for Chinese food and I had to come up with something. There are some specialty stores for foreign ingredients in my town but during the lockdown they can’t be reached, so I had to come up with whatever I could grab at the supermarket. We ended up with an eggplant and minced pork dish with ginger, soy sauce and celery leaves. I find that the taste of celery leaves really resembles coriander. Italians usually just throw them away or put them into a stock, but chopped and sprinkled onto this dish, they gave it the freshness and Asian touch I was looking for.

Last week was my daughter’s sixth birthday. We initially planned to throw a party for her before Covid-19 began. It would’ve been her first proper birthday party. Usually, birthdays for the kids are small, simple family affairs. But because we threw a big party for her brother’s birthday last year, she too wanted one of her own this year. It was in mid-Feb that we had to break the news to her that we couldn’t have a large party as planned because we were now in Italy and wouldn’t be able to invite her Singaporean friends here, however we'd still organise a party with some Italian friends’ children. She showed some disappointment, but she understood the situation. In late February, it became obvious that we couldn’t actually have a party because large gatherings were no longer allowed, so we told her that we would have to restrict her birthday party to our family with grandparents and aunts only. She looked disappointed again, but the only thing she asked for was a birthday cake and presents.

Shortly after, in early March, we had to update her again: it would have to be only the four of us for her 'party'. She replied, “It’s okay. I know we have to protect nonno and nonna (grandpa and grandma in Italian).” Then the final blow — on the 12th of March, we updated her again that no presents could be bought because all the shops were closed. We will give her presents when the shops reopen. She smiled and said, “I understand. But there will be a cake with candles right?”

Luckily, on the eve of her birthday, when we went to buy ingredients to make her a cake (by stacking pancakes together, I couldn't bake her a cake as the oven was spoiled and had to improvise) and hopefully get some balloons, we managed to buy some presents from the supermarket which were close to what she wanted, including a DIY kit to make soaps. She was surprised with what we got and appreciated the presents even more.

I am so glad we have an understanding daughter who didn’t at any point, despite months of anticipation, show any anger or frustration. We are blessed to have loving children, for whom love is the main driving force in anything that they do. Love made them understanding and considerate all this while: they understand what can and can’t be done, what can and can’t be asked for, and they truly appreciate what they are given. It was therefore a smooth transition for them coming to Italy and appreciating their life here, whether they could go for a walk or whether they are locked up at home. They are happy to have each other — they are best friends and are self-sufficient at finding activities to do and games to play together. Of course, this doesn’t mean there aren’t daily arguments and fights, but that’s what happens in any close relationship.

Right now, flying is a big risk and in any case, there are no flights to Singapore. Most of the air traffic within Europe and interconnecting Europe has been stopped. When it will be resumed depends on how the Covid-19 spread progresses. It probably won’t be any sooner than mid-April or May. I think that measures in Singapore have been adequate at containing the spread while minimising disruption to daily living. I also think that communication is done very effectively and consistently. In Italy, this has been harder to achieve due to the presence of different political parties — every region has its own governance and communication channels. At the start of the epidemic, this caused a lot of mixed messages as everyone had a different view on what should be done. There have even been cases of individuals who tried to use this opportunity to bring down the government for their own personal advantage. Luckily, this didn't happen and when everyone realised that we were in a crisis, national unity set in. I hope that Singapore continues to do a great job and it won’t be necessary to take the same drastic measures there as we had to in Italy. And I hope to come back soon to share some new dishes with friends and customers. I’d like to bring back a slice of Belluno and its cuisine to Singapore.

Antonio is the chef of private diner Casa Nostra in Singapore, which is temporarily closed until the Covid-19 situation improves. www.casanostra.sg @casanostrasg