Enterprise and creativity are the driving forces behind the Farmer’s Deli Organic Bistro, another venture at Villa Bologna, built on a legacy of progressive reinvention. Adriana Bishop steps into the idyllic walled garden in a corner of the estate for a taste of tranquility.

Opening a restaurant is always a risky business. Opening a restaurant in 2020 takes it to an unchartered level of risk that only the most persevering, or foolhardy, of entrepreneurs would pursue. 

But Ingrid Zerafa is certainly no fool. If anything, she embodies the very essence of the creative spirit of enterprise depicted in the Frank Portelli mural of Maltese industries, which adorns one of the walls of the Farmer’s Deli Organic Bistro she operates in Attard. 

The 1962 mural on glazed ceramic tiles, fired at the kiln on the Villa Bologna estate, is based on an original painting that hangs in the kitchens  
of the stately home. It had been commissioned by Cecilia de Trafford to represent the numerous industries she was promoting to boost and diversify employment opportunities for Maltese women in post-war Malta.  

The Malta Industries Association,  as it was originally known, started out with pottery on the very same site that today houses the bistro and included hand-loom weaving in Rabat, lace making, commercial production of tomatoes, a restaurant and Malta’s  first nightclub.  

Around five years ago, the concept of selling organic produce was still pretty much unheard of in Malta and most people weren’t even curious enough to learn more about it

At one point, the enterprise employed over 100 people, mainly women. Over half a century later, that painting remains a symbolic link between the estate’s history and the family’s penchant for embracing and even encouraging entrepreneurial innovation. 

Franco Battaglia and Ingrid Zerafa

So when Ingrid came up with the idea of launching Malta’s first fully-certified organic grocery store, the precursor to the bistro, she found the perfect home on a corner of the Villa Bologna estate, where she could develop her innovative venture.  

“The de Trafford family believed in us from day one,” she says from her small office, surrounded by crates of fresh vegetables and organic panettone from selected producers she has personally identified for her shop.  

“They appreciate the way we curate our selection. They are authentic connoisseurs and they supported us,” says Ingrid. 

The Farmer’s Deli was born out  of her belief in and, by her own admission, “obsession” with healthy eating. Ingrid was deeply concerned about the level of pesticides and chemicals used in the industrial production of vegetables and fruit and she was struggling to source “good food” especially in Malta.  

Around five years ago, the concept of selling organic produce was still pretty much unheard of in Malta and most people weren’t even curious enough to learn more about it.  

“When we first opened the Farmer’s Deli, we ran campaigns about what organic food is. How do you make sure something is truly organic and that the certifying body is based in the correct country?” 

Together with her partner, Franco Battaglia, Ingrid founded the Farmer’s Deli organic grocery on one crucial concept that still distinguishes the business from others: trust.

“How do you trust us? You can trust us because we work directly with producers. There is nothing in between,” she points out emphatically, adding that this trust must extend to the certifying body.  

“What passes for organic in one country is not the same in another. We ensure that the certifying body is based in the same country as  that in which the produce is grown, or manufactured. Our produce  travels with an identity card, which means all our products are  traceable.” 

At a time when our children are growing up thinking that cheese comes from the supermarket, it pays to take a moment to reflect on what  it takes to grow a simple carrot, or for that banana to reach your kitchen table. And at what price.

Ingrid argues: “If you buy a cheap carrot, you have to ask yourself how  it can be so cheap? Who made it so cheap and how? What is the value we put on food? People value a designer handbag, or an important holiday, but not food. We take it so much for granted. This is what we have lost in the process.  

“At the Farmer’s Deli, we have created a reality where we source authentic, genuine ingredients, grown by well-meaning, honest people who do it with a passion, sourcing recipes from collective memory, attracting people who can keep this alive in a sustainable manner.” 

Safety is the new cosy

With her passion for “quality ingredients that nourish not only the body but also the soul” it was only natural that Ingrid’s next step would be to expand the organic grocery business quite literally next door into a bistro featuring those same fresh, organic, authentic products she personally sources.  

In contrast to the baroque beauty of the mother house, the building in which the restaurant is situated is starkly industrial and more modern. However, it comes with a history worthy of the Villa Bologna  pedigree.  

It was built at the start of World War II by Mabel Strickland to house an emergency printing press and a paper store in case the Times of Malta building were to be bombed. It would later be converted into a kiln room  by her sister Cecilia when the Villa Bologna pottery business took off after the war.  

A mural of Maltese industries by Frank Portelli.

When I first met Ingrid on a cold December evening last year, works on the bistro were still ongoing, but it was already evident that a little gem was beginning to shine through.  

Dominating the walls opposite the entrance are two large Perspex paintings by the American artist Craig Hanna, which he personally selected to be used in the bistro. Hanna is a close friend of the de Trafford family, having resided at the villa in 2001, during which time he was commissioned to paint a portrait of Gerald de Trafford. 

Crowning the whole space is a  one-of-a-kind chandelier called Stelline, originally built as a prototype by Lumen Center Italia.  

After an initial soft opening, which received encouragingly rave reviews, the bistro extended its seating into the idyllic walled garden, ready for  
a proper kick-off in spring. But that soon turned out to be the spring  that never was.   

Post-lockdown, the Farmer’s Deli Organic Bistro has had to adapt to the ‘new normal’ as we have now all learnt to call it. Thankfully, that garden has turned out to be the perfect little oasis of natural space in which to breathe and enjoy a meal in safety, a quiet haven away from what is proving to be a relentlessly difficult year for all. 

“Open spaces have taken on a new meaning this year,” Ingrid reflects. “We have equipped the bistro with heaters so that our guests can enjoy the spacious garden at any time of day and still feel cosy and, most importantly, safe. Safety is the new cosy.”  

The farmer’s deli organic bistro is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 4pm for breakfast, lunch and tea. Dinner is also served on Fridays and Saturdays. A boutique delivery service is also available.