A Rich History
Maria Cirmi was born in Acate in the Province of Ragusa in Sicily. The daughter of a renowned butcher, Maria learnt from a very early age the discipline of hard work and love for family.
The eldest of 4 children, the responsibility of cooking for the family while her Mamma worked full-time in the family butcher shop fell wholly on young Maria’s shoulders. Learning to cook alongside her Mamma and Nonna, is where the intense love affair with cooking began for Maria.
In 1970 Maria, with great courage and hope, decided to leave her island home of Sicily and “with zero English” embarked on an adventure to an even bigger island – Australia!!
It is here that she met Amedeo Ciancio who only a few years earlier in 1968 migrated from the town of Rosarno in Calabria. It was love at first sight!!
Maria and Amedeo married and started a family, but the adventure was only beginning. In 1982, with three small daughters, Maria and Amedeo moved from Melbourne to the sleepy seaside town of Redcliffe in beautiful Queensland. This would became the first location for the three restaurants they established and have run since then.
The first restaurant only seated 20 diners. There have been many transformations over the last 39 years, including different locations, to meet the growing demand of Mamma’s amazingly loyal customers. Maria and Amedeo tried to retire in 2016 but their loyal clients had other ideas!
They eventually succumbed to the ever-increasing pressure to make a comeback and to again cater for and satisfy their clients’ love for genuine and seriously good food.
So, in November 2018 Mammas Restaurant came into existence and Maria and Amedeo today continue to grow younger as they cater for an ever-growing and discerning clientele.
Maria’s culinary creations are richly infused with the strong, aromatic, spicy and taste buds busting Sicilian tastes, complemented by Calabrian influences, inspired and assisted by Amedeo.
