Pasta has always been a tricky prospect for a limited-service concept. Restaurant chains in the U.S. typically use dried pasta that takes too long to cook to order. So it's pre-cooked and held. The result is often mushy or undercooked. Or just bad.
It’s the main reason why Davide Macchi and Filippo Fiori—two high school friends from Tuscany—couldn’t really find authentic Italian food at a fast-casual price point when they ventured out into the world for graduate school.
Living in Australia, China and, later, the U.S., they were looking for the pasta they grew up with, made fresh. But it didn’t really exist outside of full-service restaurants, and, there, at a much higher price point.
So they decided to build the concept themselves.
The first unit opened in Seattle in 2016.
Macchi and Fiori are the co-founders of Dué Cucina, an authentic Italian fast-casual concept based in Seattle where pasta is made from scratch, every day. Sauces and breads, like sourdough focaccia, are also made in house, and they even cure some of the meats used.
It’s a simple menu with a complex operation behind it.
But the two have set out to prove that the comfort food they grew up with is scalable with the right processes. Dué Cucina has five units in Seattle and recently opened its first location in Dallas, where they hope to do more.
When guests walk into a Dué Cucina, they can order at a kiosk or from the counter. In the open kitchen, they can see the Pasta Lab where about six types of pasta are made daily, from spaghetti to paccheri, campanelle or bucatini.
Anyone who has traveled to Italy realizes what a difference fresh pasta can make.
“If you’ve eaten pasta once in Italy, you are our customer,” said Macchi.
About six shapes of pasta are made daily.
And, fundamentally, fresh pasta cooks faster, which makes cook-to-order more feasible.
“There’s just no point in buying dried ingredients from a manufacturer and pre-cooking, which is what everybody else does,” said Fiori.
Once guests decide on the pasta, they can choose a sauce—from short rib ragu or kale pesto, to a traditional Bolognese ragu or Amatriciana with house-made guanciale. There are a few sides, like a marinated eggplant salad, burrata or Roman-style rice croquettes.
Guests give their name so the chef can call them when their plate is ready. “They say, ‘Hey Mark, your food is ready. I hope you enjoy,’” said Fiori. It’s a personal touch.
Guests are also warned (in a warm, hospitable way) that the pastas are cooked in the Italian style, al dente. And don’t ask for fettucine Alfredo or shrimp pesto, because those aren’t really authentic.
(The Roman-style Alfredo sauce in Italy, for example, has no cream or garlic, like the often gloopy style served in the U.S., said Fiori. In Italy, it’s just cheese and butter, and it’s what kids eat.)
“We explain: Dué Cucina is Italian, not Italian-American,” said Fiori.
Prices range from about $9 to $15 per plate.
Prices generally range from about $9 to $15 for the pastas. Wine and some cocktails are available, as are a few desserts, like tiramasu.
“It’s not like a Chipotle/Cava price point, but it’s still in the range of elevated fast casual,” said Macchi.
Dué Cucina has been called “the Chipotle of Italian food,” but Fiori contends it’s really more like Shake Shack, a Danny Meyer brand born of the fine-dining world.
But Macchi said Chipotle is an inspiration for its “best practice operations” and being a chain with the biggest from-scratch kitchen.
The first Dué Cucina opened in Seattle in 2016, though the concept was seven years in the making before that.
Macchi said the two had an angel investor to get the first open. The concept survived COVID-19, and then the two were able to fund the next four with revenue and loans.
Then Houston-based Mac Haik Restaurant Group, a large First Watch franchisee that also owns a stake in Original ChopShop and Slapfish, took a minority stake in Dué Cucina, which brought the brand to Texas.
Fiori has a doctorate in engineering and tapped into his scientific training to develop aspects like the pasta-making equipment and a higher-protein, gluten-free pasta option. They have also developed technology for things like controlling the salinity of the water the pasta is cooked in (because salt levels can impact texture) and variables like humidity levels on any given day—all with the goal of simplifying operations to grow.
With units ranging from about 1,700 to 2,600 square feet, Dué Cucina sees about 60% of sales at dinner, and mostly dine in, with real plateware, glass and silverware. About 30% of sales are through third-party delivery.
The average unit volume for units open more than a year is about $2 million, said Fiori, or roughly $1,000 per square foot.
The co-founders hope to prove to investors and private equity that Dué Cucina could be a 300- to 500-unit brand in America. Franchising might be a consideration, if they can create processes that are air tight.
America is full of competent and successful franchisees who know categories like pizza or burgers well, said Macchi.
But they don’t know pasta. Not like this, he said.
“All these franchisees would have absolutely zero idea,” he said. “[Franchising] is possible. But it’s not the best use of our resources right now.”