A pair of best friends who call themselves the ‘gnocchi brothers’ have gone from running a business out of a market tent to building a multi-million dollar gnoccheria.
Ben Cleary-Corradini, 40, and Theo Roduner, 37, scraped together the little money they had from their savings so they could sell classic Italian bowls of gnocchi from their two-person tent at a Brisbane farmers market in 2015.
‘I remember the feeling of having butterflies and not being able to sleep the night before. Theo was super excited as we packed as much gnocchi as we could possibly fit in the eskies in our beat up old Ford Econovan,’ Ben told Daily Mail Australia.
As business quickly took off, Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers was born.
Fast forward six years, the duo are now on track to make $10million in sales after opening Australia’s first ever gnoccheria with seven restaurants.
‘We now go though about 1,500 kilos of potatoes every week – so about 78,000 kilos per year. Theo always tells me that one day we should buy ourselves a potato farm,’ Ben said.
Ben Cleary-Corradini (right) and Theo Roduner (left) own the Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers
In 2015, the pair scraped together the little money they had from their savings so they could sell classic Italian bowls of gnocchi from their two-person tent at a Brisbane farmers market
Their multi-million dollar business idea sparked from their personal lives.
Ben used to watch his Nonna Ileana hand roll authentic Italian pastas from her tiny kitchen in Wollongong, south of Sydney, while Theo grew up under the watchful eye of his Swiss-Italian father Alfredo, an accomplished Italian fine-dining chef.
The friends crossed paths when Ben was working in a boutique Italian food and wine importation business while Theo was an executive chef of his family’s trattoria.
‘One of my very first and favourite customers was Theo,’ Ben said.
After doing business together for many years, the pair became good friends as they bonded over their shared love for ‘homely quality Italian comfort food’.
‘We stated experimenting with business ideas taking a selection of classic Italian dishes to the farmers market, one of these dishes was gnocchi,’ Ben said.
‘We quickly realised that people just loved our gnocchi dishes so much so that we decided to really focus on gnocchi as our one and only dish.’
The Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers dream started small. Eventually, they started trading at multiple markets and food festivals around their city and even interstate, as customers from all walks of life flocked to their tent every week
The pair has since opened seven restaurants with a menu offering a variety of gnocchi
The Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers dream started small. Eventually, they started trading at multiple markets and food festivals around their city and even interstate, as customers flocked to their tent every week.
‘We knew we had something special in our hands to share with food lovers and we just loved seeing the joy on people’s faces when they tasted our gnocchi for the first time,’ Ben said.
And within the first year of selling gnocchi at markets, they made just under $200,000 in sales.
After nine months, the pair opened up their first brick and mortar store after they outgrew the flimsy walls of their tent.
‘This allowed us to get our gnocchi out to the masses and helped us build a strong following before we opened our doors in Paddington in 2016,’ Ben said.
In the second year of opening their first location, the business partners made more than $2million in sales.
After opening six successful restaurants across Queensland, the friends recently opened up their first Sydney 60-seat gnoccheria in Newtown.
After doing business together for many years, the pair became good friends as they bonded over their shared love for ‘homely quality Italian comfort food’
Within the first year of selling gnocchi at markets, they made just under $200,000 in sales
Their gnocchi menu includes (from left to right): Spicy tomato and black olives, pork and fennel Italian sausage and wild mushroom and truffle sauce
Ben said he believes gnocchi is an ‘underrated’ dish in Australia because a majority of diners around the country have ‘never really tried seriously good gnocchi’.
‘However fresh gnocchi, when done right, represents what we believe great Italian cuisine is all about – fresh ingredients made lovingly to create simple yet delicious, homely meals,’ he said.
‘We make our gnocchi with just the right balance between firmness and fluffiness. In addition, we serve our gnocchi as an extra saucy dish.
‘Traditionally in Italy, particularly in the North, gnocchi and pasta in general is served with very little sauce. At Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers we don’t skimp on our sauce as we have found our customers love it extra saucy.’
With seven restaurants and their factory now in full swing, the brand is on track to ‘smash through’ the $10million mark.
On top of running seven restaurants, Ben said the pair never gave up on markets. ‘Even now having a number of stores, we cheerfully head to the same market that we started at every Wednesday morning to sell our gnocchi,’ he said
In the second year of opening their first location, the pair made more than $2million in sales
Fast forward six years, the duo are now on track to make $10million in sales after opening Australia’s first ever gnoccheria with seven restaurants
‘Our mission is quite bold, we want to be the world’s favourite destination for gnocchi lovers. First things first, we want to build a strong presence in the Sydney market, similar to what we have achieved up in Brisbane,’ Ben said.
‘We then plan to expand nationally one location at a time. Once we have fed Australia, we’d love to take our concept international as soon as travel gets back to normal.
‘But there is no rush just like making gnocchi, we will take it one step at a time. My Nonno always used to tell me “piano piano vai lontano” which is an Italian saying meaning if you take it slow, do things properly you will go a long way.’
On top of running seven restaurants, Ben said the pair never gave up on markets.
‘Even now having a number of stores, we cheerfully head to the same market that we started at every Wednesday morning to sell our gnocchi,’ he said.
For those looking to start a business, Ben said you should ‘never listen to the naysayers’ who say it can’t be done.
‘In fact prove the silly b******s wrong,’ he said.
‘So many people said to us: “A restaurant that serves just gnocchi… it will never survive”. Well we have opened seven restaurants in five years, built up a strong team around us and feel we have only just got started.’