Leo:
I’m from an Italian family, so food was always big in our house. We ate together every weekend. I grew up in Venezuela and moved to Peru. I went to culinary school there. After that, I came to Fairhope to work at the Grand Hotel, which is where I met Agustin.

Agustin:
I’m from Bariloche, Argentina. It has mountains and lakes, with snow during winter and hot summers for hiking. My brother was a chef.  When I finished high school, he took me into his kitchen and gave me some work washing dishes and helping him out.

I fell in love with it—the excitement of feeling like I  belong and people recognizing me for what I  do. I went to Buenos Aires and got a degree in professional gastronomy.

Leo:

After culinary school, I worked for a few years in Peru. Then I wanted to make some money to travel. I was offered an internship in the U.S. through a J1 program, with many places to pick from: New York, Florida, and Alabama.

New York was too expensive, and there was no housing. They spoke more Spanish than English in Miami, and I wanted to speak English. So I did some research on Southern food—Alabama was the place to go.

I did the internship and met my wife. I’ve been here ever since. 

Agustin:
I did the same J1 program in New Orleans back in 2010. My wife is from Mobile, but she was a teacher in New Orleans at the time. We met, and I ended up here. Leo and I are full-time chefs, and I had this idea of making food on the side for years, but I didn’t want to do it by myself. I approached Leo about it. He said yes, and we started exploring the possibility of selling at farmers’ markets. 

Leo:
The Fairhope Farmers Market changed everything for us. They really made us feel like part of the community from day one. We went with just some fresh pasta, sauces and bread on the first day, thinking nothing was going to happen—if we didn’t sell anything, we’d at least have fun. We sold out in less than an hour. It was amazing. As time went on, we started to get a following. 

The focaccia recipe took us at least six weeks to get right. A little trial and error. We’d try different recipes and think, “This isn’t it.” Until the day of the farmers market, we said, “You know what? Let’s do this one.” And it was spot on.

Agustin:

That feeling—that moment when it happens—it’s so unique. Sometimes it takes so long to get there, but when it happens, you know.The name is Osteria South. Osteria is Italian for a casual restaurant, nothing fancy. We’re both from the south, and we moved to the South. It kind of worked together.

We try to bring culture into our food. One of our breads is called fugazzetta—it’s from Argentina. There’s a lot of cultural mix in South America. You have Italian recipes that we put a little twist on.

But we still have some classic recipes. Pesto Genovese is classic—just pine nuts and basil. Certain recipes are so good, we don’t want to alter them.

Leo:
The pasta you find in the supermarket is just semolina and water—it’s dry. Our pasta is fresh, with eggs. We bring the flour from Italy—it’s organic, non-GMO. But that’s the technical answer.

Agustin:
The real answer is just what you feel when you eat it. People feel good after they eat it. The texture is completely different.

Leo:
We’ve had people say, “My grandma is from Italy, and your food tastes just like it.” That’s the feedback we love to receive.

We want to make the cooking part easy. Just boil some water, cook the pasta for 5 minutes, mix it with the sauce—dinner is ready in about ten minutes. We take all that stress out of cooking.

Agustin:
This is a big year. A new business and a new baby for Leo. I also have a new baby. It’s been a roller coaster of emotions overall.

We’re going step by step. Maybe we’ll start selling to restaurants wholesale. Maybe we’ll find some small places that can sell our product throughout the week. Maybe we’ll start a food truck. For now, people can find us at the Fairhope Farmers Market on Thursdays during the spring and fall seasons and at the Foley Farmers Market every Saturday year-round.

Food brings people together—that’s what we’re doing here.