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Vinny Vaglica was 13 when he started working at Giovanni’s, his family’s Bay Shore pizzeria.
Three decades later, he finds himself a few steps away inside of Fatty T’s Burger Shack, the food truck that he and fiancée Jennise Jund launched last month.
Giovanni’s closed more than 20 years ago, but Vaglica has stayed close, setting up shop in the parking lot of a shopping strip owned by a relative.
“I’m 110 feet away,” said Vaglica, who grew up in Bay Shore and parks his truck outside 222 5th Ave. every day but Sunday.
It’s right off the Sunrise Highway South Service Road off-ramp onto southbound 5th Avenue.
“Life comes full circle,” he said.
Fatty T’s is named in honor of Tyson, the beloved red nose pit bull Vaglica adopted as a puppy, and who died in 2019 at the age of 10
The truck’s image of a smiling Tyson in a white chef’s hat — “He’s the original Fatty T,” Vaglica said — greets him every day at work.
“We loved him very much and from the moment we lost him, I wanted to have him back immediately,” Vaglica said. “Now I have the opportunity to see him every day.”
Opening Fatty T’s has energized the chef, who is now able to combine his lifelong affinity for baking and beef after spending nearly 20 years working with the homeless.
“When people ask me if I am a chef or if I am classically trained, I say no, I’m more of a food fabricator than anything else,” he said. “You give me some prime cut, I’ll brine the meat, season it, cure it, then bring you kielbasa three days later.”
While the truck doesn’t open until 12:30 p.m., Vaglica said he’s usually off and running about six hours earlier, when he’s gathering daily supplies at a butcher shop or preparing his own doughnuts and hamburger buns.
“We do semolina, flour, potato,” said the 43-year-old Bay Shore resident. “My grandfather was a baker in Brooklyn, off the boat from Sicily — that’s how he raised his family and I kind of took after him in that aspect.”
The menu includes the $10 Classic, a quarter-pounder with bacon, cheese, caramelized onions, pickles, ketchup and a “Fatty Sauce.” Each burger is accompanied with salted, fresh-cut fries or chips fried in beef tallow.
The Fatty Stack, billed as “our classic with 2x the love” goes for $14, while the Fattest Stack (3x the love) tops out at $16.
So far, Vaglica said, the feedback has been a burgermaker’s delight.
“I’ve had ladies look up and say, ‘Are you F’ing kidding me?’ as they take a bite in the burger,” he said with a laugh.
But supplies are limited.
“Fifty burger [patties] a day,” he said. “If they sell out, we close early.”
Jund, who manages the Fatty T’s social media accounts, said starting a food business comes with a heap of challenges, including a shift to burgers after the truck was originally going to be a barbecue smokehouse in a truck.
But she said early online feedback and in-person praise has been gratifying.
“I’ve been very lucky that he cooks for me,” Jund said. “Now I get to see him do it every day and he’s really happy.”
Vaglica said he’s savoring the chance to work on the new venture with his fiancée and his cousin, Dominic, who owns the shopping center where the burger truck sets up shop.
“I’m happy I’m free,” he said. “This is our thing — I’ve wanted to do something like this my whole life and now I have my opportunity.”
He’s also able to count on lifelong friend Steven Colabella, the chief butcher at Peconic Prime Meats of Southampton.
“I was in Cub Scouts with this guy,” Vaglica said. “He gets us our beef tallow, he gets us our bacon, he gives us a little space in his fridge to hold stuff.”
The burger chef said he’s also thrilled to commemorate his pooch, noting in an Instagram post just before Fatty T’s opened how “his spirit lives on in every sizzle, stack and smile we serve.”
“I don’t know how I could ever pay better homage to him,” Vaglica said.
Follow their journey
If you go
Fatty T’s Burger Shack opens at 12:30 p.m. from Monday through Saturday and can be found outside 222 5th Ave. in Bay Shore.
Top: Vinny Vaglica and fiancée Jennise Jund at the Fatty T’s Burger Shack in Bay Shore. (courtesy photo)
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