Italian chef Nelson Reposo lost all his work overnight, due to coronavirus. Now, he has remodelled his business to bring his native food to doorsteps across the region.
A small Comrie-based catering business has successfully regenerated its offering during the coronavirus pandemic, providing fresh pasta kits and other Italian delicacies.
Italba Dining, run by chef Nelson Reposo and his wife Louise, quickly diversified to offer Italba Delivery when the first Covid-19 lockdown was introduced in March.
A private chef with clients all over Scotland, Nelson lost all of his remaining work in 2020 as the pandemic took its damaging hold on the country.
Undeterred, the couple quickly established a market for his pasta at-home kits and other artisan Italian products which are now delivered to a growing client base throughout Perthshire.
The chef, who hails from Milan, wanted to bring a finer dining experience to people’s homes during lockdown, and has been creating innovative delivery menus combining Italian and Scottish ingredients.
The handmade pasta has proven so popular amongst Nelson’s clients that he has already had requests from customers in Plymouth, London and the Isle of Lewis. However, for the moment Italba is only offering delivery in Perthshire.
Reinvention
“Since lockdown I wasn’t able to do my job as a private chef so we basically reinvented very quickly and we created a sort of takeaway at home range. I update the menu regularly, once a week, every two weeks. People just go on the website and order what they want,” said Nelson.
Louise added: “It is fresh pasta kits which Nelson makes from scratch and they are sold with sauces etc., to be finished at home. We provide detailed cooking instructions and it’s very simple to do. It is a five-minute job to prepare it at home.”
And the pasta kits have been well received. Nelson continued: “The feedback has been incredible. We have a lot of returning customers and we have a lot of customers who have been to Italy or have Italian origins who say it brings them back to what they used to eat – authentic flavours.
“Initially some people were reluctant, saying ‘why would we buy fresh pasta when we can make our own pasta at home?’ But to eat fresh pasta is a completely different experience. We have a lot of coverts, but we are still working on some people who think they should get tatties with every meal.”
Variety
Nelson’s menu is constantly changing to maintain its variety.
He continued: “We provide home-made bread such as focaccia and I usually provide a dip which at the moment is tapenade made with Italian olives. To start with I have three or four different pasta types either tagliatelle or pappardelle or stuffed pasta like ravioli or tortellini with different sauces and fillings to go with
“I also provide a dessert which I change regularly – panna cotta, cheesecake or treacle tart, it depends.
“The challenge is trying to find dishes that are easy to transport without losing anything.
“I also make a lasagne with organic vegetables or parmigiana which is very popular and these can just be finished in the oven.”
Inspiration
Louise said a trip to London last year fuelled the couple’s plans for a fresh pasta enterprise, but the arrival of Covid-19 meant it happened a little quicker and different to how they had first envisaged it.
“I think the inspiration really came when we were in London last January and we were astounded at the number of fresh pasta restaurants with queues around the block of people waiting to try fresh pasta at lunchtime,” she said.
“At that time we had just refurbished a kitchen with the chef’s table and we thought ‘oh maybe we should focus on pasta a bit more’, but then lockdown started and we thought let’s do this as a takeaway and since then we have done 850 orders working only once a week as we are home schooling in between.”
While the fresh pasta kits are only available in Italba’s local area at present, they may be branching out in the future.
“At the moment it is only Perthshire but we are looking at being able to branch out, as we had someone contact us from Dundee who said she ordered from Pasta Evangelista every two weeks and we said we couldn’t deliver and she was gutted as she wanted to try something local instead. Everything is so uncertain at the moment so we are only taking small steps,” revealed Louise.
“We have been incredibly blessed that we were able to diversify so quickly which we could only do as Nelson has his own kitchen unit. He has space and we had a good website that we could quickly put our online shop onto and that’s what has made it possible for us to diversify and be quite successful
“Most of our customers are based in Comrie and Crieff and St Filans, but increasingly we are getting more inquiries from Aberfeldy, Perth, Bridge of Earn, Auchterarder and Dunblane through word of mouth.”
Michelin-starred restaurants
And having enjoyed success with his new venture, Nelson sees it as something that will definitely continue when things return to some sort of normality.
“I do my private cheffing, which I have been doing for a few years now, but this is definitely something I want to keep going permanently. I will keep the private chef limited to only a few loyal customers and work on this too,” said Nelson who worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in Milan and London before he and Louise met.
They moved to Cyprus for a few years but relocated to Scotland, from where Louise hails, when their children were born.
Amazing feedback
Some of the comments from Italba’s customers have been fulsome in their praise of the kits.
Catriona Cunningham said: “In these dark and gloomy winter months with all the restrictions in place, Nelson’s cooking brings a taste of Italy to our doorsteps in delightful packages. The food is outstanding and transports us to the gentler climes of Italy so we can momentarily forget where we are. An Italba dinner is a highlight in our household, loved by children and grown-ups alike!”
And Susan Kelly added: “Italba’s delivery service has been the highpoint of our family’s week throughout the pandemic. Particularly in the initial days, when we were still coming to terms with the change in the way we live our lives, we really looked forward to Nelson arriving with our weekend dinner. The food is packaged in environmentally friendly vegware with clear and simple instructions on how to prepare.
“The pasta is sublime and the meat is melt in the mouth… We’ve loved every dish that we have ordered.”
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