Meet Laurie Vitale | Mother, Traveler, Analyst, Crepe Master

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laurie Vitale and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laurie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
After traveling 13 European countries over 3 months, and spending several months a year in Italy pre-covid, I decided I wanted to bring a piece of Italy back to Kansas City with me. During my travels I realized a majority of Americans never leave the US, and thus may never get to experience the beautiful delicacies of Italy. Having a Sicilian heritage, it was exciting for me to share that piece of myself with others through food and travel stories. I also knew that having a restaurant is so extremely difficult, so I chose the route of a food truck instead. At first the concept centered around coffee, but after experiencing the crepes of a tiny creperie in Ragusa, I knew other people needed to experience the uniqueness of this Sicilian treat! And thus, Ragusa’s Italian Cafe was born.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our relentless pursuit of quality, authentic ingredients definitely sets us apart from other Italian bakeries. After sampling several ingredients across the city, we opted to import our cannoli, chocolates, and coffee directly from Sicily. I also spent extensive time in Ragusa, shadowing with the “crepe master” Peppe, in order to prepare the crepes with precision as he does. Peppe’s crepes are unlike any other, served crispy and hand-held, rather than soft on a plate. Getting to share these stories with our customers is probably what excites me most.

We are getting ready to start our 4th season as a food truck, and the journey has definitely been challenging. We launched in the middle of the pandemic, averaging our first season with about 5-7 events per month. Last year our truck had grown so much in popularity, we were averaging 25-30 events per month. Each season comes with its own set of challenges, from staffing with inconsistent hours, pipes freezing, generators and refrigerators dying during an event, extreme weather damaging our serving window, to the truck breaking down on the way to an event. As a food trucker, there’s always something unplanned that keeps us on our toes, so we’ve definitely learned to roll with the punches, and smile, because thats about all you can do when you have a line of folks waiting and you can’t figure out why the crepe pans suddenly won’t light!!

Overcoming each challenge has only been possible by having awesome people around me to keep going. I launched this truck with my teen-aged niece and nephew, and getting to see the challenges through the eyes of kids has definitely helped me keep things in perspective. Not to mention all the laughs we had along the way. I really feel like they taught me more about patience, and perseverance than what I was able to teach them!

I guess in the end, I want the world to know that we are just a small family business, excited to share some of our favorite foods and experiences with each customer.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Kansas City has so many little gems! We are most known for our CHIEFS football, BBQ, and Jazz. So of course, I would take my besties to a game to experience the excitement and energy of thousands coming together for the same goal, followed by KC Joes BBQ (to be debated as the best) and topped off with a night out at the Green Lady Jazz Lounge. Since this is my bestie, they’d have to be a coffee lover, so we would also check out a different cafe each day for our caffeine fix. Cafe CaPhe, Hi Hat, Second Best, Brew Haha, and Messenger coffee are some of my faves! Kansas City also has some great live performances, be it music, ballets, opera, or symphony, so we would definitely catch a live show as well.

What I love most about KC, is that we are big enough to have something for everyone, but small enough to never feel “lost in a big city”.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh my goodness, SO MANY people have influenced my successes! Definitely my mother, a super-power business woman in her own right! From a child, I watched her build her business from nothing to helping hundreds of women build their own businesses. She’s always been my biggest cheerleader, and supported me in any journey I set out to try.

Also my husband. Some couples love watching movies together, or hiking, or cooking. We geek out on brainstorming business ideas and little things we can do to help our own (and other’s) business succeed. When people ask if he helps me on the food truck, I always tell them “Never on the truck; always behind the scenes!”

Website: www.ragusasKC.com

Instagram: @ragusasKC

Facebook: @ragusasKC

Image Credits
Blue Valley CAPS Corey Brown Photography