Sophia Savino, a woman with brown hair and glasses in a white dress, stands in front of three of her art pieces — A 16 piece solo show celebrating Italian heritage, on display at Gallery Cafe Chicago, September 2024.

Shop Series

An Ode to Italia: Pasta e Pomodoro

As third-generation Americans, we are always three degrees of separation away from our family who immigrated to the States. Our connection with heritage is typically formed through stories from our parents, photos of people we’ve never met, and the food made in our kitchen. That’s the story that inspired this series.

With both of my grandparents hailing from the southern portion of the Italian boot, I was always aware that I was Italian. There were times growing up when my great grandmama would visit, and I have vivid memories of her in the kitchen, talking away in her heavy Italian accent, making sauce (or gravy, if that’s your thing).

During my childhood, my grandpa was easily my best friend. He was a small business owner of a bakery in Libertyville, IL, until he had a stroke, which left half his body paralyzed. Although I still caught him in the kitchen, rolling dough with one arm, I was never able to ask him to tell me stories, as the stroke had caused him aphasia, limiting his speech.

Unfortunately, he passed when I was 15, but my quest to truly know him never ceased.
In my adult years, after a trip to Rome, I was inspired to learn more about my family’s lineage. After hours spent on ancestry sites, I found the marriage certificate of my great-grandparents, where I traced our family tree back to the 1600s. However, I could not find my grandpa's birth certificate anywhere, and that’s when I decided a trip to Puglia to visit my family’s hometown was necessary.

In 2023, I embarked on my quest to Triggiano to finally find that birth certificate. During my trip, I stopped in many places, experiencing Italy's richness and warmth. I will never forget Positano's shops with hand-painted pottery adorned with citrons, nor the pizza class in Naples where I learned the secret to the best pizza: San Marzano tomatoes grown in rich volcanic soil. I also remember the bus trip from Naples to Puglia, where I connected with a local by sharing Taralli crackers and conversations in broken English and Italian until I arrived in Bari.

My grandpa's hometown of Triggiano is a small town a few miles inland from Bari. My trip to Triggiano was short but confusing, and I relied on the help of kind Nonnas (who spoke no English) to navigate me to my destination, "The Big Church."

This is where I met a distant relative who also spoke minimal English. She took me to the town hall, where I was unsuccessful in my quest to obtain the birth certificate. But afterward, she treated me to an espresso, walked me to our former family home, and told me stories about the town on the way back to the bus.

As I left, I realized I had found something even more valuable—a sense of belonging and pride in my heritage.

“This show, An Ode to Italia: Pasta e Pomodoro, highlights what Italy means to me as a third-generation American. It captures the vibrancy of what is now drab and covered in graffiti, the playfulness in humble food, the grandness of steps built for giants, and the connection with strangers over things universal, such as food.”