From Italy to Paengaroa
The culinary journey of Simone Saglia & the Trading Post
From northwestern italy, via london and melbourne, where he met his kiwi wife, simone saglia has ended up in paengaroa. simone and kylie have owned the trading post restaurant since may last year and next month will, in collaboration with te puke truffles, be taking part in the annual flavours of the Bay festival that celebrates the region’s food and drink.
simone is from piedmont, close to the border with france.
growing up, he was often looked after by his aunt and grandmother as his parents were at work.
“i always had an attraction to what they were doing because of the smell when i was walking in the house. there were pots and pans and chopping boards and knives and that’s where everything started, and i began to think it could be my career.”
Alongside his academic studies at secondary school, because he had a good idea what he wanted to do, simone started working towards his first qualification.
At the same time, he was also working in restaurants at weekends and during the school holidays.
“he was always working in highend restaurants since he was 15 mainly michelin-star restaurants,” says kylie.
“he has a good friend who owns a restaurant over there which has had a michelin star for a very long time and he was able to work for him and experience what the top end looks like.”
simone was also a promising swimmer, competing at national championship level, but in the end,
had to make a choice.
to gain more experience, he moved to london where he worked for three years in a private club.
“it was quite a unique private club with marble everywhere, unique artwork inside, and members only.”
some were part of the aristocracy, others politicians and royals.
“i met some well-known people not all the royals, but most of the royals, designers, billionaires, trillionaires,” he says.
he was approached by Australian
chef, restaurateur and television presenter neil perry, who wanted to open a similar club in Australia, and moved to melbourne in 2012.
“i worked for neil perry for nearly two years and after that moved into italian restaurants.”
just before lockdown in 2020, he had decided to start his own business which was agile enough to run despite the restrictions.
he would take orders for pasta and sauces, make them in a satellite kitchen, then deliver them.
however, with simone and kylie both living away from home, they decided to settle in new zealand and open a restaurant after getting married in italy.
the plan was to look for somewhere in whangamata¯, but they called in at the trading post on a trip to lake rotoiti. that evening they saw it was for sale.
“we walked in and it just had the right feeling, that European influence and we could see what we wanted to do working here,” says kylie.
“the fact that there’s a community around makes it special.”
simone says there are similarities to the places where he grew up.
“Community is important, everybody knows everything, but it makes you feel kind of safe - and there’s a good feeling with this business - every day we’ve got people coming in, sometimes twice a day — it makes a difference at the end of the day.”
for flavours of the Bay, the restaurant has teamed up with te puke truffles owners maureen and Colin Binns.
“simone has grown up in an area known for white truffles, grown up knowing all the little secret spots, so having truffles on the menu was always going to be a must for us, and meeting them and how lovely they are, it was going to make sense to make a partnership with them,” says kylie.
the trading post will host three events — two breakfasts followed by a visit to the truffiere and a lunch after a truffiere visit. simone says the breakfasts will be two sweet and one savoury dish, all truffle infused - and the lunch will be three courses of simple food with a truffle influence.
“we will add truffles to pasta, eggs, cheese — everything that really blends with truffles, but is easy, nothing too complicated because truffle is already a premium product and when you get a good product, to keep its integrity, you are using simple methods and good techniques to retain the flavour — that’s how we like to do it.”
The events will be on April 9, 10 and 13. More information and tickets via flavoursofplentyfestival.com