But for Fresca owners Luciana Garcia and Ignacio Sande it was memories of the freshly made pasta of their youth that pushed them to open the doors of their new Helwick St eatery.
And their first foray into hospitality looks promising — a "soft launch" earlier this month nearly sold out.
Originally from Uruguay, the couple were both trained in sports coaching and had no previous background in cooking or owning restaurants, she said.
They came to New Zealand in 2010 thinking they were only staying for a year after Ms Garcia got a job as a synchronised swimming coach.
The pair lived in Invercargill until Covid-19 when they decided to make their usual holiday destination — Wānaka — their permanent home.
"There is a lot of Italian heritage in Uruguay. We grew up on fresh pasta," Ms Garcia said.
"Almost every second block has a fresh pasta shop. It was very accessible and something you always eat with your family at least two or three times a week.
"When we came to New Zealand we found there were no fresh pasta shops."
Earlier this month the pasta kitchen opened with a "soft launch" after three days of staff training, Ms Garcia said.
"We were standing by the door when we first opened and it was so quiet I thought we had just wasted thousands of dollars.
"But it started to get really busy and we sold out of almost everything — it just feels great," she said.
Ms Garcia gave all the credit to her partner, Ignacio.
"It was his idea originally. He thinks of all the big ideas," she said
With two small children, Ms Garcia said they have been unable to have a family dinner together for the last two weeks.
"One of us will be at home with the kids while the other is here.
"The other night I did not come home until 11.30pm.
"It’s something we want to work on and we want balance.
"We want, in the long term, to have more flexibility and spend as much time with the girls while they are little," she said.
Working with a hospitality consultant and chef, Ms Garcia said she and her partner really wanted to understand the hospitality world.
Ms Garcia said they hoped to staff the business with "good humans".
"We wanted good humans that care for the place, care for the customers, care for the products they’re making, and I think we achieved that.
"We have an amazing team that is super multicultural," she said.
The business is on the site of Ritual cafe, which closed late last year after 20 years of operation.
