THE BEGINNING
Food has always been where
I feel most at home
A story of family, food and where it all started.
Some of my earliest memories are of growing up in my family’s Italian restaurant, with Mum in the kitchen as the chef and Dad alongside her. Weekends, school holidays and spare time were often spent at the restaurant. It was simply part of our life.
What stayed with me just as much was the feeling of the restaurant itself — the constant chatter, the clinking of glasses, people laughing, plates moving in and out of the kitchen and tables filled with conversation.
There was something about that noise that I found incredibly comforting. It was busy and chaotic, but to me it felt warm, alive and full of connection.
It felt like home
And I think without realising it at the time , this is where the idea of Wholesome Bellies really began.
Food in a Different Way
My love of food came from Mum, but my own relationship with it began to change when I became plant-based in 2008.
Suddenly I had taken meat out of a way of eating that had always felt familiar, and I had to start looking at food differently. I became more curious, more creative and began experimenting with vegetables, legumes, grains, herbs and spices in a completely new way.
What started as a personal change gradually became something I wanted to share.
In 2019, Wholesome Bellies Cooking School began in my home. I taught small groups how to cook simple, beautiful plant-based food — and quickly realised it wasn’t only the cooking I loved.
It was bringing people together.
There it was again. That feeing I'd grown up with.
2008
I began eating plant-based
2019
Wholesome Bellies Cooking School began at home
From My Home Kitchen to Woolloongabba
Those small classes eventually grew into a fully fledged cooking school in Woolloongabba, Brisbane. Hundres of people came through our doors to cook, eat and spend time together — and somewhere along the way, it became about much more than recipes.
A community formed. People returned, friendships were made and stories were shared around the table.
2019
Home Classes
Small
The early home classes
2019 onwards
Retreats
Retreat days
2020
Cooking School
Wholesome Bellies found a permanent home and the community grew.
Our new home
Always
Connection
Food brings us together. Connection is what keeps us coming back.
Community
Food brought everyone to the table. Connection was what kept bringing us back.
And then Came Travel
Travel has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.
Growing up, family holidays were something we did every year, and trips back to Italy to visit family gave me an early love of being somewhere different — hearing another language, discovering how people lived and, naturally, seeing what everyone ate.
As Wholesome Bellies grew, I began to feel the pull towards travel more and more. I loved the cooking school, but being tied to one place started to feel at odds with another very big part of me.
I wanted movement. I wanted discovery. I wanted to see more of the world — and I wanted to take people with me.
Why not bring my two great loves together
Food + Travel
2024
Our first Wholesome Bellies travel journey bagan.
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Travel gave Wholesome Bellies a much bigger table.
Food. Culture. Place. Connection
