Headstrong and determined, Albina was raised with hard work & success in mind. Alongside her older sister Eletta, Albina walked six hours every week between their home in San Gennaro and the walled silk-producing town of Lucca. Saving every cent from their jobs weaving silk, the two sisters made the tough journey from their familiar comfort to a new, unknown life in Chicago.
Marked as peasants as they entered through Ellis Island, Albina would forever hold on to the label assigned to her with pride. Seeing her life in Italy as lower than a peasant, to be called that, was a compliment to her hard work and determination that she carried with her for the rest of her life & would pass on to the rest of her family.
Albina’a sacrifice of her familiar was a thinly threaded needle providing her future family a better life. Cooked with melancholy love in every bite, enjoy warm and cozy dishes at the Proud Peasant that transports you to the small Italian hamlet where our family began.
The interior image was initially created using Midjourney and then Photoshopped to edit & create the final version. This is a graduate school project and is not an actual restaurant.