Mietta O'Donnell (6 January 19504 January 2001)
/ref> was a

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

-based Australian restaurateur, chef and

food writer Food writing is a genre of writing that focuses on food and includes works by food critics, food journalists, chefs and food historians. Definition Food writers regard food as a substance and a cultural phenomenon. John T. Edge, an American food ...

, described in her later years as Australia's leading culinary publisher and critic. She was also a noted arts and music patron, and a song competition is named in her honour.

Career

O'Donnell's grandparents were Italian migrants, Teresa and Mario Vigano, who arrived in Melbourne from

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in 1928 to establish 'Mario's' restaurant in

Exhibition Street, Melbourne Exhibition Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district, central business district of Melbourne, Australia. The street is named after the International Exhibition held at the Royal Exhibition Building in 1880, and was pre ...

, which they ran for over thirty years. O'Donnell, with her partner Tony Knox, opened her restaurant 'Mietta's' in Brunswick Street,

North Fitzroy Fitzroy North is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cites of City of Merri-bek, Merri-bek ...

in June 1974. 'Mietta's' moved in 1985 to Alfred Place in central Melbourne, eventually closing in 1995. In February 1992, Jex Saarelaht and

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the soul, jazz, and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her song "Pash" received a gold sa ...

performed at the restaurant. They recorded and later released an album titled ''

Open the Door - Live at Mietta's Australian singer Kate Ceberano has released 18 studio albums, three compilation albums, five live albums, two soundtrack album, and 44 singles. Albums Studio albums Live albums Soundtrack albums Compilation albums Singles As lead a ...

''. She was killed in a car accident in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

while traveling to speak at a food and wine seminar. Her funeral was attended by over 1,000 people from the arts, politics, and the culinary world.

Mietta Song Competition

'Mietta's' restaurant had also become a salon of the arts, including music. In 1995, along with her partner Tony Knox, Len Vorster, Michael Easton and

Lauris Elms Lauris Margaret Elms (born 20 October 1931) is an Australian retired contralto, renowned for her roles in opera and lieder and as a recording artist. Biography She was born in Springvale, Victoria, the elder daughter of Harry Britton Elms and ...

, O'Donnell co-founded an annual art song competition which she ran herself. In 1996, it was named the City of Melbourne Song Recital Award. After her death in 2001, the competition was revived in 2003, as the Mietta Song Recital Award. Since 2004 it has been held every two years. It is now known as the Mietta Song Competition.Mietta Song Competition
Retrieved 24 February 2014

Publications

Books authored by O'Donnell include: * 1996 – ''Mietta and Friends''. Wilkinson Books: Melbourne. * 1999 – ''Great Australian Chefs''. (With Tony Knox). Schwartz Publishing: Melbourne. * 2000 – ''Mietta's Italian Family Recipes''. Black Inc.: Melbourne.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ODonnell, Mietta 1950 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Australian writers 20th-century Australian women writers Australian chefs Australian food writers Australian restaurateurs Women restaurateurs Australian people of Italian descent Australian women writers Australian patrons of music Women food writers Women cookbook writers Road incident deaths in Tasmania Women chefs 20th-century philanthropists