It's permanently on Peel Street, serves Italian food inspired by Jock's Nonna and is a pre-cursor to bigger plans the chef has for the street.

While Jock Zonfrillo’s Scottish heritage is much-talked about, his Italian side gets less press. But that part of his family, and the delicious dishes they cooked, are the basis for the latest venture from the well-known chef.

The man behind Blackwood, Orana and Street ADL has this week swung open the doors on a food truck. Called Nonna Mallozzi Pasta e Panini, the truck got craned into Peel Street just a few days ago, and served its first customer on Monday.

Sitting on a patch of asphalt set slightly back from the Peel Street thoroughfare, the truck is a sign of things to come for the precinct. In the long term, Jock plans to fill the building that occupies the same lot as the truck with a bricks and mortar version of the eatery.

The opposite side of the same building, which fronts Gilbert Place, will play host to Maiz and Mezcal – the popular Magill Road restaurant. The revamp of the spaces will ultimately result in the creation of a thoroughfare between Peel Street and Gilbert Place.

For now though, the Nonna Mallozzi truck is operated by two real, live Italians – chef Stefano Magrofuoco and front of house manager Alessandro Antonucci, who have worked with Jock previously. The pair are serving up a simple menu.

“We chose pasta and panini because that’s what Jock grew up eating with his Nonna,” says Stefano. “We make the authentic Italian way – no Australian influence with the cream and butter and chicken – just good, very fresh food.”

Each day the truck will be serving at least two types of pasta for about $12, two kinds of panini for about $9 and polenta chips with a rich, parmesan-laden sauce for $7. In the morning, the truck will be offering coffees (once the machine is installed in the next couple of days) and breakfast-type goods like croissants, the dough for which Stefano was preparing when we visited the truck.

The food truck format was chosen to initially house this idea because it captures an authentically Italian way of eating.

“In Italy it’s very easy to find a food truck out on the road,” says Stefano. ‘You find them everywhere – out in the pub at night time or in the festival, you can find a lot of food truck.

“We talk about how this should be like a market – so we make the prep here in front of the customer. We do it like the Nonna in Italy – make in the morning for the lunch and dinner  so it is fresh everyday, no freezer, no nothing like that.”

With a tenancy on this patch of Peel Street asphalt for at least the next six months, the team also hope to move into baking what they call “nonna cakes and biscuits, and zeppole” and making fresh pasta for dishes that involve things like gnocchi and lasagne.