It all started with a date at the footy. “We met through mutual friends when we were 16 and have been together ever since,” explains Rosanna Hage, who owns and runs one of Chatswood Chase’s longest-standing businesses, Quattro Deli alongside her husband Christian. Rosanna – recognisable for her huge smile – grew up around cheese, antipasto and meats, with her grandparents, originally from Bari in the south of Italy, running a wholesale distribution business and later a Deli on the northern beaches.

Coming from a Dutch and Italian background, Christian too was passionate about food, and when the business expanded to open a new store in Chatswood Chase in 2009, the young couple – then both only 22 years old – came on board to help establish it. “We took over managing the shop and ran it with the then owner Micheal and then in 2014 the opportunity came up to buy it,” explains Rosanna, who was pregnant with their eldest son at the time. “It was a no-brainer,” adds Christian.

A Decade since they became the owners of Quattro Deli – and more than 15 years since they started trading at Chatswood Chase – Rosanna and Christian have lost none of their passion. “It has had its challenges and it's not always smooth sailing, especially with three young kids, but we love working with each other and it’s given us so much flexibility.”

“For us, it's been about adapting and learning. We've survived through it all, through the changing demographic of the area, through things like COVID and developments and the changing retail landscape,” explains Chrisitan. “The thing we are absolutely fanatical about is service”, he adds. “It's free to give out, but it's so critical. When you go to a fresh food counter it's quite intimidating. And so how do you break that down? You offer tastings, you give people an opportunity to explore without having to commit. You tell them about the origins of a product so they can go back and share that with their friends and family while they enjoy it. And for us, that’s probably the one thing that's meant we've survived through all of these things. Through building relationships with our customers.”

As the couple move into their new space at Chatswood Chase the thing they are most excited about is giving back to the community that has stood by them by providing them with a full and rich offering, and of course, their typical warm service. “We're so grateful for that support because without people backing us, things could have gone south when we moved from our premises in July last year. But the support has kept us going.”

Whether Christian and Rosanna’s kids will one day take over the family business is yet to be seen, but with all three loving being behind the counter and chatting with customers – and their eldest learning how to use the slicer in the last school holidays – it's not outside the realm of possibility.