Barbara Bozza carries a family legacy that spans continents at Emma & Lorenzo Trattoria, where she helps preserve Roman culinary tradition within Miami’s competitive restaurant scene.
Located on Biscayne Boulevard and 130th Street in North Miami, the restaurant reflects a decades-long journey that began in Rome and expanded to Montreal, Canada, before arriving in South Florida. The Bozza family’s story illustrates a broader pattern in Miami, where small businesses rooted in cultural tradition shape the region’s identity while navigating rising costs, competition and shifting consumer expectations.
“We are not trying to reinvent Roman cuisine,” Bozza said. “We are here to protect it, to honor it and share it exactly as it was taught to us.”
It began in Rome’s EUR district, a residential and business area, where Lorenzo Aureli opened the family’s first restaurant, Le Tre Fontane. The restaurant closed around 1974 after a family partnership dissolved, as members chose to pursue different paths. Aureli continued working in neighborhood trattorias, eateries known for traditional home-style Roman cooking and simple ingredients.
In 1992, Bozza’s mother, Emma Risa moved the family to Montreal after developing a connection to the city through her daughter Olga Aureli, who relocated there at a young age. That move led to the opening of Da Emma, a restaurant that still operates under family ownership.
Bozza later moved from Rome to Boston before settling in Miami, while her parents remained in Montreal until they relocated to South Florida in 2022, as her father’s health declined. Bozza’s brother, Luigi Aureli, joined the family and helped open Emma & Lorenzo Trattoria in 2023. Lorenzo passed away before the restaurant opened, which deepened the family’s commitment to preserving their culinary traditions.
“It was not about expansion or ambition,” she said. “It was about preserving our culture, our identity and our way of cooking.”
A family-run restaurant involves constant interaction in and out of the kitchen. Bozza moves between roles throughout the night, balancing service, coordination and oversight while working alongside her mother and brother.
“Working in a family restaurant is different from working in any other type of business—it is intense, personal and deeply emotional,” she said.
Much of the decision making happens in real time, with responsibilities shared across family members during service, from timing dishes in the kitchen to greeting and assisting guests in the dining room. It is demanding but allows a level of trust and coordination that shapes the restaurant’s daily operations.
Miami’s fast-paced restaurant industry is driven by trends and a constant demand for new concepts. However, the family has chosen consistency over change to preserve their traditions.
Instead of rotating concepts, the menu remains focused, with specialties written on a chalkboard for guests to see, including dishes such as tortellini in broth and a rigatoni Roman-style oxtail dish.
“Our family continues to uphold a tradition that comes from ‘cucina povera’,” Bozza said, referring to a Roman style of cooking often described as a ‘poor kitchen,’ built on simplicity and necessity.
Stainless steel pans line the stovetop, lightly coated in oil, while a pot of tomato sauce and meatballs simmer nearby. Freshly portioned pasta is dropped into boiling water as dishes move through each stage of preparation.
Aureli prepares each dish to order at Emma & Lorenzo Trattoria. He times the pasta and controls portions on every plate, using precise techniques to combine pasta water, pecorino cheese and black pepper into the signature creamy texture of cacio e pepe, a traditional Roman pasta dish. Pasta alla gricia builds on the same base, adding cured pork cheek. Both dishes embody cucina povera in practice, turning a few ingredients into something of rich flavor.
“That is not a preference; it is a cultural identity,” Bozza said.
Like many small restaurants, Emma & Lorenzo Trattoria operates within a challenging economic environment.
The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the restaurant industry, forcing businesses to adjust to shifting consumer behavior and overreliance on online platforms. For the family, this meant making decisions to balance traditional recipes with increased operational pressure.
Upholding authenticity required managing imported ingredients from Italy; higher logistics costs and rising supply expenses led to adjustments in pricing and portion sizes, while the restaurant continued to prioritize quality over volume.
“Consistency is essential,” Bozza said. “Every dish, service and detail must reflect the same level of care and respect for our cuisine.”
Since opening the restaurant in North Miami, Bozza said it has stabilized but continues to face the ongoing economic pressures common to small restaurants.
In Miami, visibility often begins online, shaping customer traffic before they enter the restaurant.
Over the past three years, the dinner restaurant has maintained an Instagram presence and recently expanded to TikTok, where short-form content has increased exposure.
Online reviews continue to play a role in attracting customers and shaping expectations of the food and atmosphere. But Bozza said digital success is secondary to in-person experience.
David Johnson, an assistant of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a national nonprofit that supports small businesses, said strong small businesses are often deeply connected to their local communities and nearby resources.
“I think the biggest thing that I’ve seen that transcends communities in this online era is the small businesses that are the really thought of as community leaders and beacons, are the ones that are ultra connected to other businesses in the community and other resources,” Johnson said.
That connection is evident inside the restaurant, where Bozza greets regular customers personally.
“We want to be a point of connection,” Bozza said. “A place where people gather, celebrate and return not just for the food, but for the feeling.”
The music gets louder as the main lights dim, and the candles on each table are lit, transforming the space into one that evokes a Roman street. Brick walls and mounted Italian dishes blend elements of Rome and Montreal, mirroring the family’s history.
Small restaurants in Miami exist in a space where culture and commerce overlap, forcing businesses to adapt and innovate, but Emma & Lorenzo Trattoria centers on consistency, carrying its culinary culture across continents.
“Success is being able to preserve our identity and our traditions, even far from where everything started,” Bozza said.
