Love food trucks? So do we! So much so that OnMilwaukee partnered with Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. to bring the first MKE Food Truck Fest to Henry Maier Festival Park in July. Find out more here.
Anna (aka Nonna) Rondinelli and Joe (aka Papa Joe) Micheli launched the Amore de la Cucina food truck in 2018, offering a range of Italian-American traditional favorites to diners at festivals and other events.
“We have been together for over eight years,” says Micheli. “We both love cooking and have cooked for family and friends most of our adult lives. We were encouraged by family to ‘go professional’ and thought a food truck would be the easiest – well, the least costly and risky – way to do so.”
Although stymied by the loss of their kitchen, they’re back on track and, says Joe, “We are back on the road in 2021!”
Type of food: Italian-American.
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free options: The eggplant sandwich and mozzarella sticks are vegetarian (albeit not vegan) winners. “We will probably introduce other options in the future,” says Micheli.
Most popular item: “I would say the most popular item is the Italian Beef sandwich,” says Micheli. “We offer our homemade Giardiniera with it. It's quite a sandwich.”
Where to find truck this summer: Food Truck Festivals of America event at Waukesha Expo Center on June 19 and at the MKE Food Truck Fest with OnMilwaukee at Henry Maier Festival Park on July 24.
If you could park your food truck for one day anywhere in the U.S. where would it be?
“If we could park anywhere in the U.S.? Anywhere in the surrounding Milwaukee area. We love the customers we have had and look forward to serving this area for years to come,” says Micheli.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
