A little taste of Italy bursts to life at Swift Current's newest restaurant

Allan Pulga is a food writer based in Regina, and regularly writes CBC Saskatchewan's food column, Regina Bites.

Step inside Trattoria Raccolto and you'll be transported to Tuscany, with a distinct nod to Saskatchewan. One wall is decorated with a mural of deer on a rolling countryside, juxtaposed with the Italian wines and food on the tables.

Inspired by a trip to Italy in 2018, Rusty and Kristy Thienes recently opened their new restaurant, called Raccolto for short, in Swift Current, Sask., about 225 kilometres west of Regina.

"[In Italy], we ate and drank everything we could get our hands on," Rusty recalls.

He says food in Italy is more than just fuel for a person's body, it's a cause for shared celebration.

A trattoria is a community restaurant that sort of straddles casual and fine dining. Rusty hopes his new restaurant creates that feel, along with that sense of celebration.

"There's such happiness and joy literally permeating in your skin the moment you walk in. I said to myself, 'I want this. But I don't want to have to fly to Italy [to feel it]. We deserve this in Canada.'"

A familiar sort of comfort food

The couple is best known for Harvest Eatery in Shaunavon, Sask., the award-winning ranch-side steakhouse they opened back in 2013. Tuscany, a grain-producing region of Italy, felt familiar to them.

"I felt a kinship for the food," says Rusty. "They eat the way we eat in Saskatchewan. The food is rich and warm. They're farmers. That area of Italy, they're farmers and ranchers. I think people kinda think it's a wine area, but really they're farmers mostly."

Raccolto is the Italian word for harvest, after all.

The common threads between the Thienes' two restaurants don't end there. In 11 years, Harvest Eatery created an ecosystem of producers, suppliers, bakers and butchers — along with regular customers who would drive the hour from Swift Current to Shaunavon — that has allowed them to scale up to this new Italian offering.

Their attention to detail in the food offerings is remarkable, and the commitment to an Italian authenticity isn't just in the flavours but in the menu itself. Nearly all the items are named in Italian before they are explained in English.

The Thienes are proof you can build great restaurants in the countryside. They note they're not alone, as many top Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe are located outside of major centres, closer to where the ingredients are grown and produced.

"It's the same exact approach here at Raccolto," Rusty adds. "Why do Italian food in the middle of Saskatchewan? Well if you've been to Tuscany, what do they produce? Durum, chickpeas, lentils, mustard. You're talking about beef, pork, chicken, wild boar, rabbit, game meat. Is there anything more Saskatchewan than that?"

A couple with complementary skills

Like many entrepreneurial married couples, Rusty and Kristy have complementary skill sets.

Rusty is a chef and focuses his energy on the food, the ingredients and the authentic Italian wine, spirits and cocktails on offer.

Kristy, whose background is in marketing and graphic design, develops all the branding, social media content and style suggestions for everything from the menu fonts to the concept behind the dining room.

One of the things you notice right away is the restaurant's green glass-like floor, meant to evoke the colours of Tuscany's green grass and fountains, in contrast to the marble and stone finishings.

"[Working on the dining room design] brought back memories for me, but it also married Tuscany and the Saskatchewan landscape," Kristy says.

That parallel is something Rusty hopes people take away from their dining experience at the restaurant, in addition to a greater appreciation for the ritual of a delicious meal.

"Food is a shared moment — it invokes memories."

The couple's trip to the sun-soaked land of Italy may be over, but they're keeping those shared moments of celebration, romance and adventure alive in their offerings at Trattoria Raccolto in Swift Current.

• Read more from Regina Bites food columnist Allan Pulga here.