Nonna Angela’s.
Tradition, Community & Family
Core Beliefs:
Tradition.
The maternal family, the Buonincontris, migrated to Calgary from Napoli in the 1950s. They arrived in Bridgeland and brought with them traditions that came from their hometowns in the Campania region. Adapting to new life in Canada, Angela Buonincontri worked in bakery during the day and after work used whatever was available to fortify evening dinners, Gabrielle, her husband, grew up a farmer and after working concrete in Bridgeland, went to the markets to grab fresh produce to help her form those dinners. Italian families strolling in from the neighbourhood would come join with homemade wine and their own things to put on the table every night to sit communally to eat supper together. We are today and forward Inspired by centuries of tradition of communal dining where multiple families would walk into the house with wine and join to share the passion of food, life, and love.
Core Beliefs:
Community.
In a world at the time before cellphones and social media, when you walked around Bridgeland up until 1998 when the hospital was demolished, you could only hear people speaking Italian on the bus riding together and you’d find Italians like our nonno Gabrielle building sidewalks with other Italians. Streets filled with Italian-built shoemakers and hairdressers, markets and countless different shops built with expertise they brought from their homes in Italy. Houses built from winemakers leaving their clothes hanging on racks outside with vegetables growing outside their backyard. Italians migrated to Bridgeland for a better life than in Italy, but community is what let them thrive in a world much further than where they came from. La Brezza’s core belief is unifying community and heritage.
Core Beliefs:
Family.
Family is the heart of our story. Mamma Angela began her culinary journey at just 8 years old, preparing meals for her younger sisters in Bruciano. Marco, our founder, brought his passion for food from Somalia to Rome, and finally to Canada. After 15 years in Italy, he settled in Bridgeland, finding a slice of home in its Italian-like atmosphere. Marco’s journey in Calgary began in a basement room rented from John Cutruzzola, who also gave him his first job at the medical building across the street. Fate intervened when Marco met his future wife, Filomena, at bus number 9 outside the house, greeting her on the bus with a charming “ciao bella” in Italian. In 1987, Marco transformed the very house where he once lived in the basement into La Brezza. He convinced his mother-in-law, Mamma Angela, to leave her job at the Palliser and bring her culinary magic to the kitchen. This marked the beginning of a true family enterprise: Nonna doing the cooking, Nonno selecting the freshest groceries weekly, and all family members worked in both the front and back of the house. Here, strangers become family, and we take joy in learning each guest’s story while celebrating our Italian hospitality and heritage in the little Italy neighbourhood home-turned- restaurant.
Sign Up Today For
La Brezza Offers & Value.
Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on exclusive offers, special events, and seasonal dishes crafted by our chefs. Buon appetito!