Anyone strolling through Revelstoke's Southside neighbourhood the last few months might have noticed a boxy green, red and white truck parked at Taylor and Sibbald streets.

Preparing nearly a year for their grand launch, Jess and David Bafaro have been selling fettuccine Alfredo and meatball sandwiches by the mouthful since March 1 with their new endeavour and homage to Revelstoke's old Little Italy, called L'Italiano Past Co.

"It's all a part of the family endeavour," Jess remarked, speaking outside the truck on Wednesday morning (March 12) as David hooked up a water line.

Both raised in families that immigrated straight to Revelstoke from southern Italy during the 1950s and '60s, the couple is best known in town for previously running Padrino's Pizzaria for 10 years. Jess's grandparents (the Sessas) came from Naples, while David's (the Bafaros and Federicos) arrived from small towns around Calabria for work on the Revelstoke Dam.

"It's hearty dishes," Jess said, describing the southern Italian cuisine. "All about family, getting everybody together."

David has worked kitchens since age 14, and Jess started serving at 18, leading them to meet and spark in Revelstoke when working together at the former Isabella's Ristorante.

Fast-forward to a few years ago, after their marriage and a decade serving Padrino's pizza, "when I was cleaning up our office, oddly enough, I found the paperwork we were looking through about food trucks," Jess recounted.

So, the well-established culinary couple decided to change trajectory, investing in a vehicle for a home-run business.

"It was just a white Purolator packing truck," David recalled, explaining how they needed to design a floor plan and separately order in equipment such as a suppression system while it got refitted in Vancouver. "We had it gutted and custom painted for us."

With the Italian flag-tinted truck completed last summer and rolling into Revelstoke by September, it's been a learning curb for David leading up to this March launch to adapt his decades-long food prep skills to much tinier quarters.

And though hungry locals may wish for L'Italiano Pasta Co. to just roll down their street, Jess pointed out that due to municipal bylaws, "unfortunately it's a misconception that you can just drive around and park anywhere you want."

But being allowed to park at Southside Market, where they previously began marketing products from Padrino's, "we're very fortunate in Southside that we have private property," Jess emphasized.

The catch for her and David's new enterprise is relying entirely on products from Southside Market, "to keep it fresh as possible." This means zero fried food, and the market's meat department is "grating us meatballs fresh and we're selling it in 24 hours," David said.

"I just think the community should support local in general."

He and Jess raved about how healthy and easy fresh pasta is to cook, and explained how their family's own dietary concerns and quest for a healthier lifestyle led them away from Padrino's and toward serving a menu not dependent on dairy-rich and high-fat foods. At L'Italiano Pasta Co., they even offer gluten-free and vegan items.

Though Jess and David don't yet have the cooler storage capacity and crew to offer their larger "family-style" menu items, some of their most popular dishes so far include their fettuccine Alfredo and meatball sandwich. Customers can also opt for buying any of a half-dozen types of pasta raw, to cook it later themselves at home.

"My favourite's the rigatoni Bolognese," David shared.

Along with being the head chef, David also penned the business's name. He'd set his sights on Little Italy, but had to get creative when he learned some construction company in Vernon had already claimed the copyright. L'Italiano adds some cultural flavour to the name, while Pasta reflects the facet of Italian cuisine he wants to dip his toes in more going forward.

"We're making fresh pasta," he said. "No one really does that anymore."

L'Italiano Pasta Co. is operating every Tuesday to Friday at the Southside Market parking lot, 12 to 7 p.m. - or until food runs out!

And, if not facing a lunchtime rush, David proudly attests to being able to serve up a meatball sandwich in three minutes.

Jess and David plan to expand their service to the local farmer market this spring, and have a bain-marie set-up they're excited to fire up for Canada Day catering. They also mentioned that Uber Eats has been in touch with them about plans to bring delivery service to Revelstoke, around end of March.

Visit their website at .