People of the OCQ: Caitlin

As you walk into La Stella Trattoria, you’re instantly hit with the aroma of housemade dough, followed by the soft crackles of the wood burning oven, and welcomed by the relaxed atmosphere of locals and tourists sharing space.  

The Italian restaurant has opened its doors to the community since 2014. 

“The previous owner, Ryan Zuvich, he owned Hill Top Bistro, that's where I started with him. He later that year opened Stella’s and I was here for opening night,” she explains. Caitlin worked as the sous chef at Hill Top until it sold, then moved over to La Stella’s.

In the restaurant industry, it’s few and far between to have a female sous chef. It’s also rare for a young female to become owner of a restaurant. In December 2024, at age 31, Caitlin took over ownership of La Stella Trattoria. 

“It was a hard decision, obviously, because I've never done anything like this before,” she says. “You can’t really prepare for doing it, you just need to throw yourself in and learn to adapt. The opportunity was too good to pass by.” 

Ryan, who previously owned La Stella Trattoria, had also opened up a north end location called Pizzeria La Stella, which is now owned by another chef there. Although both restaurants share a name, they have different owners and menus. 

As someone working back in the kitchen, which she still does every night they are open, Cailtin says she understands the complexities, challenges, and opportunities of the restaurant compared to if someone new came in. 

“You can see the problems. You can see the good things. You can see what works, what doesn't work. Usually when new owners come in, they try to change something, or they probably would see the price of cheese and say, ‘no, we're not doing that, we're going to get this cheese. It's cheaper.’ But then the quality suffers. That's normally when the customers are like, ‘it's new owners, it's not as good as it was,” she explains.

Since the beginning, almost everything served at La Stella is made in house. The restaurant was the first establishment to have a wood fire pizza oven in Nanaimo. They make their pasta from scratch daily, and have fresh, gluten-free pasta as well from their own recipe. This means they can control the quality well, but also means that due to small batches made, sometimes they will run out of a menu item that day. 

For the most part, Caitlin has kept things the same as they previously were. She recognizes the community’s love for the menu, though they try to rotate it every few months. 

As natural as working in the kitchen comes to her, Caitlin would love to learn all the roles in the restaurant, though serving customers is the most daunting role for this shy business owner. 

“Little terrified talking to people, little bit nervous on that one, but eventually I'll get out here,” she says.

Although shy, Caitlin says the regular customers have welcomed the new ownership and she’s thankful for the community’s support. 

La Stella Trattoria is located on #1-321 Wesley Street in the Old City Quarter and are open Wednesdays to Sundays for dinnertime.