Alla Vedova_Udine. Story of a name, a restaurant, and a world.

What is it about?

The restaurant Alla Vedova in Udine, in operation for more than a century, has collected the stories and images of its many decades of activity into a publication. We provided the translation into English, in collaboration with the author Elena Commessatti and illustrator Giovanna Durì, to give foreign guests an insight into a piece of the history of our local area.

What does the project look like?

ort but dense booklet in which the author tells the story of the restaurant, initially by means of historical archives and family accounts, which take us back to early 20th century Friuli – a world we feel is very far away but is revealed to us more closely – with actors and celebrities, journalists and writers who have frequented the venue over the decades. To conclude, there had to be the recipes for the house’s signature dishes. The narrators, while using a colloquial and breezy tone, remain in the background to enable the true protagonists of this story – everyday life, conviviality and traditional dishes, often revisited – to come to the fore, also through evocative photos by Matteo Lavazza Seranto.

Our job was to make these scenes of life in Udine accessible and enjoyable also to readers from other countries.

How was the translation work organized?

The task was assigned to Julia, an experienced and sensitive translator able to capture the nuances and personal traits hidden behind the words, rendering them in English in the same buoyant and engaging tone as the original. The first draft was followed by revisions, refinements and discussions on the most critical points and again, several re-readings.

What were the challenges and the strategies that were chosen?

Starting with the protagonist whom the restaurant is named after, the Widow, we had to make choices to translate – or not to translate – that took into account the character of the Italian text and the accessibility for non-Italian readers to names, nicknames, dishes, ingredients and the local dialect, which emerges from the pages.

To sum up:

Today the trattoria Alla Vedova has one more tool to tell its story to the public, an international and multilingual public from the very beginning, as detailed in the book itself. Even the English-speaking reader will have a key to interpreting and savouring the reality of 20th century Udine, and to appreciating its uniqueness and development.

E a ghega e a cavalletta si entrava al Kaiser come bolidi, si salutava siôra Felicita (saludê siôra Felicita, putêi, bongiorno siôra Felicita) ed era subito la gasosa con la pallina da mandar giù con il dito (la mando xo mi!; no, la mando xo mi!, dême qua che voialtri no gavê forsa!), e subito dopo erano anche i peverini con la mandorla incorporata e la fettina di salame, che fame! che sete!, e dicevano: “Andè piàn che sê tuti sudai, ingordi che no se altro, e, a proposito, se sêo lavai le man?”

And hopping and skipping we rocketed into the Kaiser, we greeted Mrs Zamarian (say hello to Mrs Zamarian, children, good morning Mrs Zamarian) and then immediately came the lemonade with the ball to be pushed down with your finger (I’ll push it down; no, I’ll do it! give it to me, you’re not strong enough!), and immediately afterwards there was also peverini with almonds and a slice of salami, so hungry! What a thirst!, and they said: “Go slow, you’re all overheated, you greedy lot and, by the way, did you wash your hands?”

Find out about other translation projects.