Italian prince brings fresh pasta truck to Los Angeles

Los Angeles has seen its share of food trucks, but few arrive with the built-in theater of a royal title and a fresh pasta machine behind Plexiglas. Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, better known as The Prince of Venice, turned that combination into a rolling Los Angeles business that tried to prove a pasta truck could be more than a novelty.

Di Savoia is the grandson of Italy’s last king, Umberto II, and one report said he was 44 when he launched the truck on the streets of downtown Los Angeles in the summer of 2016. The concept was developed with Milan-born chef Mirko Paderno, and later menus were helmed with the help of pastaia Elizabeth McCoy, whose kitchen background included Otium, Miro and All'Acqua. The truck’s design matched the pitch: royal blue, an Italian-flag motif, and a visible fresh-pasta machine that made the production part of the performance.

The food side was built to hold up once the headline did its work. The brand said it imported some ingredients from Italy, including flour, olive oil and truffles, while sourcing most produce and meats locally in Southern California. Menu descriptions also pointed to locally sourced organic vegetables, cage-free eggs, free-range meats from California farms, Italian flour, olive oils and truffles. Dishes on the truck have included signature Bolognese, curry chicken Alfredo, lemon bucatini, tomato basil pasta, pasta al pesto, spaghetti and meatballs, truffle maccheroni and squid ink shrimp pasta.

Di Savoia’s pitch was rooted in a personal story as much as a business one. He said he first visited Italy in 2002, after his family was allowed to return following decades in exile, and that living outside Italy gave him a desire to promote Italian culture abroad. That impulse helped shape a brand that treated pasta as something portable without stripping away the craft.

The idea eventually grew beyond the truck. Prince of Venice expanded into a brick-and-mortar location in Westwood at 1091 Broxton Ave., extending the same fresh-pasta identity into a fixed dining room. One listing described each pasta dish as made fresh to order, and another said the business also offered catering. In a city crowded with taco trucks, burger trucks and fusion experiments, this one made its case with fresh dough, a royal backstory and a truck built to turn every stop into a small Italian spectacle.