For longtime family and business owners on St. Armands Circle, it's about starting over.
Le Colonne has been on the Circle since 1998. The restaurant took on damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
While they work to rebuild, Simone Salustri came up with an idea: a food truck.
"We came up with this project of this thing of a pasta truck, which is more like a restaurant on wheels. And we've been doing that since then, try to raise funds to rebuild the restaurant," said Salustri.
It's called Buonissimo Mobile Italian Food Truck. Of course, this adventure was an all new one.
"It's kind of crazy, you know, you have to learn a lot of things," Salustri said. "I had to buy a truck for the first time in my life. Drive a truck from—went from a BMW to a truck and that's life, never know what to expect."
The process has been life-changing. They went from doing hundreds of orders a day with a team of 15-20 people to working for themselves and traveling across Sarasota and Manatee counties.
"So now we're doing this and we're raising all the money, saving everything for the restaurant," explained Salustri.
But, so far, it's been a success.
"We're working hard to try to reopen that place because it's a family legacy. My father was there and he retired. He's 85 years old," Salustri said. "But he left me the legacy and I can't let it go. So I'm going to fight til I can to my last breath to reopen that place at any cost."
If you'd like to book them or read more, click here.
