A familiar Carrington Street café is about to enter a completely new era, with the team behind Vespa Cafe transforming the space into a warm, family-style Italian restaurant inspired by dinners at nonna’s house.
Vespa Cafe at 262A Carrington Street will become Per Te, an authentic Italian restaurant built around simple, traditional cooking and the flavours the family grew up with.
“Per Te means “For You” in Italian,” co-owner Rita told Glam Adelaide.
It is a fitting sentiment for a site that already has deep roots in Adelaide’s Italian community, with the property purchased in 1952 and a dedicated hall, the Carrington Function Centre, opening in 1958 before becoming a long-running home for Italian-Australian events and celebrations.
Per Te will operate alongside the function centre, continuing the site’s connection to Italian food, community gatherings and private events.
And the change is about much more than a new name. The casual daytime energy of Vespa will make way for something warmer and more intimate.
“We’re moving away from our café and turning it into a restaurant,” Kirsty said.
“We’ve changed it to a more warm feeling when you come in here, a more nighttime vibe, where you can come with your family and have a good home cooked meal,” Rita said.
And, importantly, it will still be accessible.
“Somewhere you won’t have to borrow money from the bank,” Rita laughed.
The design will lean into an olive toned palette, complementing the relaxed atmosphere that Kirsty and her co-owner Sam want to create. But the kitchen is the star of the show.
“Sam is the guy in the kitchen,” Kirsty said. “He is constantly experimenting, developing recipes and looking for ways to bring the flavours and techniques of home cooking to the table.”
“We have typical, home style cooking, even just our plain Napoletana is delicious,” Sam said.
“Our lasagne is very famous. We don’t complicate it. It’s very simple.”
Per Te will have a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Image: Rita
That simplicity is intentional, with Per Te drawing inspiration from the food Sam and Rita remember eating growing up, and the kind of cooking associated with nonna’s kitchen and long Sunday lunches.
“We don’t take shortcuts,” Sam says. “We like to remember the childhood of eating in the 60s, the 70s, and the 80s at home at nonna’s house.”
Rita agreed, adding that “our arancini is different because it’s not just a rice ball. It has flavour and love.”
“We use saffron in our arancini, which is traditionally what you put in it,” Sam said.
The team also hopes to revive some of the traditions they remember from their Southern Italian roots.
“There’s an old thing from the southern side of Italy, my dad would soak the peach in wine and then we’d have it at the end for dessert,” Rita said.
“We want to bring that back, obviously in Summer when peach is available.”
The traditional approach extends to the way the food is made as well.
“Everything is handmade, we don’t use production or machinery,” Rita said. “We process everything with our hands.”
Per Te is a fitting evolution for a business already known for bringing people together through food and events. With Per Te, Kirsty and Sam and taking the familiar foundations of Vespa and turning the dial towards something richer and warmer.
Per Te
When: Opening in the next couple of weeks
Where: 262 Carrington St, Adelaide
To find out more and for the official opening date, click here.
