Local produce and homemade pasta: Mount Jukes Family Farm brings Italian agritourism to Mackay

A family farm is combining Italian flavours and Australian crops into an ‘agriturismo’ experience just half an hour from the airport. If you like fresh pasta or Byron Bay’s famous The Farm, read more here.

A family will soon expand its food truck into an Italian agriturismo experience just 30 minutes north of Mackay.

Mount Jukes Family Farm just received approval for its outdoor cafe and tourist attraction on a scenic drive to Cape Hillsborough.

Originally from the outskirts of Milan, Sabrina Rampi said she and her family “want to cook good food and share our passion for the land”.

“We’ve had restaurants all our life and our goal is to cook what we produce (as well as) other farmers,” she said.

“Being Italian, the food is probably the main thing.

Salvatore Cicchelli, Sabrina Rampi and their daughter Camilla started the Mount Jukes Family Farm food truck in July 2021. Photo: Contributed

“We love our food (and) are really passionate about what we do

“We’d like to bring in all the other farmers close to us (and) keep it as local as possible.

“I want it to become one of those places you go if you come to Mackay or Whitsunday.”

Sabrina and her husband, Calabrian chef Salvatore Cicchelli, previously ran an agritourism restaurant in a small village called Biandrate.

Mount Jukes Family Farm is expanding its food truck into a full Italian agritourism experience just half an hour from Mackay. Photo: Contributed

A half-hour from Milan, they served homemade pasta, cheese, and homegrown vegetables from a renovated 18th-century guesthouse and farm.

After moving to Australia in 2004, they created Pinocchio Restaurant in the Western Australian resort town of Exmouth.

The restaurant lasted 16 years and won Foxtel Food Channel’s favourite Italian in WA six years running.

Mount Jukes Family Farm food truck. Photo: Contributed

A holiday in Mackay inspired them to return to their farmhouse roots and start searching for rural properties.

They moved over in March 2020 and bought a farm near Mount Jukes on December 18.

“It was originally a sugarcane farm,” Sabrina said.

Mount Jukes Family Farm’s resident mother Maremma, Rose. Photo: Contributed

“Now we have 500 chickens (for) pasteurised eggs, a few goats, one cow, beehives, a couple of sheep and our beautiful Maremmas.”

The family also rears Maremma sheepdogs, an Italian breed perfect for protecting livestock and property.

Based at the crux of Kuttabul Mount Jukes Road and Yakapari Seaforth Road, the location will attract tourists taking the scenic drive to Seaforth and Cape Hillsborough.

The family are keen dog breeders as well as chicken farmers of 500 head. Photo: Contributed

Their development application says “the agritourism attraction will be an extension” of their popular food truck, which the restaurateurs created in July 2021.

Sabrina said the “casual and cozy” plan is to add a gazebo, cafe-style seating, parking, and an eco-friendly toilet to their food truck set up.

“You can’t always start big and flashy,” she said.

Mount Jukes Family Farm is expanding its food truck into a full Italian agritourism experience just half an hour from Mackay. Photo: Contributed

“We want a small place (for around) 3o people to have a platter of cheese (or) antipasto (and) homemade pasta or pizza.

“Where the meat comes from two farms behind mine (and) lemons from the farm in front.

“If the response from customers is, ‘Wow, that’s awesome’, we’ll get bigger.

“Everyone starts from somewhere.”

Mount Jukes Family Farm’ is slated to open around December, with further construction to follow into 2023.

Originally published as Local produce and homemade pasta: Mount Jukes Family Farm brings Italian agritourism to Mackay