Sydney food truck Buon Appetit serving authentic Italian dishes
A family-run Sydney food truck is drawing massive crowds cooking authentic Italian dishes ‘just like Nonna’. Here’s how to check it out.
Confidential
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Western Sydney family, the Vitaglianos, believe their mother Rosa cooks the best Italian food in NSW and they’ve got a successful food truck by the road to prove it.
The family – which consists of matriarch Rosa, her husband Joe and their children Ben and Mara – started Buon Appetit in Denham Court 18 months ago.
Now this taste of Italy in the Western Suburbs has become a viral sensation with their most popular dishes, like the handmade gnocchi, frequently selling out.
Son Ben, 26, decided to start the business after leaving his “dead end job” as an Operations Manager at an advertising agency.
“My Mum has always been an amazing cook and she always wanted to have her own restaurant but I guess she was scared and I always wanted to be a chef because of the skills she taught me,” he said.
“When I handed in my resignation I just decided to dive in and finally give it a shot. I convinced Mum to quit her job as a manager of a fast food restaurant and start this dream.”
“I always knew Mums food was amazing. I used to sit at our table and think, “Why are we not selling this?” Now we are!”
Adds Rosa, 52. “All of us were sick of our jobs and after a trip to Italy in 2019 I knew I couldn’t go back to managing a fast food restaurant. So we were happy to go into this and not make money and just do something we are all passionate about.”
Buon Appetit serves food the Vitagliano family have been eating at home for years like gnocchi sorrentina, mushroom risotto, arancini and cannoli. Rosa learnt to cook from her late-mother Tina, who was an “antique” style Italian cook.
“Nothing has changed from her recipes that she brought to Australia when I was two. It was real woggy at our house,” she said.
Like in Italy, the food truck sits on the side of a road. Rosa, 52’s, gnocchi has captured foodies appetites on social media and now they make about 300kg of the dish a week.
Also at peak times during the evening, there is a line 100 metres long for their dishes but a piano accordion player is often serenading guests.
“I’m stunned and amazed and I’m glad people are eating and enjoying it. They get to see the difference between real Napolitiana food like Nonna used to make and the Westernised version,” says Rosa.
Coming along on the journey is sister Mara, who is in charge of social media and desert. While father Joe, who comes to the site after his day job to help wash dishes.
Rosa and Ben are the ones running the kitchen and Ben, who is often snacking on the fresh basil, says while they get along well at the end of the day, “she’s still my wog mum and she’s hot-headed so we do clash!”
Buon Appetit’s google reviews praise the food, but also, point out the warm hospitality of the team. Ben believes the success of their family business is due to the fact they treat their customers, like one of them.
“We are cooking what we love to cook. Like for our families on Christmas or one a Sunday when all the family comes over. We love being in the kitchen,” says Rosa, who adds they don’t work on a Sunday so they can still have their cherished meals together. “This food truck for me feels like everyone is coming to our house for dinner.”
Says Ben, “We treat our customers like family because they are. They’ve made our dream come true and we are beyond grateful for that!”
karlie.rutherford@news.com.au
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