If there’s one thing the pandemic taught us, it’s that sometimes the zaniest ideas have the most merit. When restrictions limited the number of customers that could dine in at their Fortitude Valley ristorante Casa Nostra, owner-operators Biagio and Sarah Biuso swivelled towards a degustation-centric model of operation, delivering a higher form of service and a more exclusive epicurean offering. It paid off, with guests regularly returning for more of Casa Nostra’s considered cuisine throughout 2020 and 2021. Emboldened by the positive response from diners, Biagio and Sarah decided to showcase their newly adopted degustation menu via a bold new delivery method, closing Casa Nostra with the intent to shift locations and shift gears (pun very much intended). The next Brisbane locals heard from the Biuso family, they were announcing the forthcoming arrival of Da Biuso – a roaming restaurant housed inside a converted bus. “We started looking for a fixed tenancy and then [Biagio] had this crazy, amazing idea in December 2021 or January 2022 of having a mobile fine-dining restaurant,” revealed Sarah when she spoke to us in late-2022, “and it’s evolved from there!” Instead of a bricks-and-mortar address, Da Biuso’s digs are a converted Iveco school bus that seat 12–14 diners. Van Demons Vans (a Brisbane-based company renowned for designing, constructing and fitting out custom food trucks) has transformed the vehicle’s interior, installing a dining space, a small bar and a 4.1-sqm kitchen equipped with a combi oven, grills and all the necessary bits and pieces for high-end cooking. Da Biuso’s interior scheme is classic and elegant, with a colour palette of soft greys and creams accented by rich timber panelling and bespoke furnishings to evoke the sumptuous surrounds of historic dining carriages and bygone charm of Brisbane’s original tram service.

While not strictly an Italian-focused restaurant, Da Biuso’s ever-changing six-course degustation menu is informed by Biagio’s Sicilian roots and contemporary European touches. In the kitchen, Biagio and son Joseph are taking simple elements and pushing them to delicious new heights. The minestra di mare is a brothy delight loaded with seasonal seafood and cream of saffron potato (plus a delicate dollop of caviar on top), while Da Biuso’s duck-filled fagottini is matched in heartiness only by the stewed broccoli with Tasmanian lamb. Showcasing Biagio and Joseph’s ingenuity is the Spritz Cocktail course, which isn’t a cocktail at all, but rather Australian scampi swimming in prosecco reduction imbued with Aperol and orange elements. Sarah is overseeing the floor and dispensing libations as sommelier, with an all-Italian wine list available alongside a clutch of cocktails offering plenty of quaffing material. As Da Bisuo sits on wheels, it won’t remain static. The Bisuo family is keen to take the restaurant to different picturesque locations throughout the year, but come Friday March 3 you’ll see the striking vehicle at Ascot Green. “Brisbane is our home and we wanted to bring something completely new to share our passion for our city and what we do – hospitality,” says Sarah. “Part of this is showcasing spectacular locations to stimulate the senses through taste and place. We will have more locations announced soon, but for now, Ascot Green is our place to call home.”

Da Biuso is launching to the public on Friday March 3. Head to the Stumble Guide for booking and menu details. 

Images supplied by Da Biuso.