Comedy trio Sooshi Mango’s Italian restaurant is funny, but no Joke

It is near impossible to scroll through social media these days and not come across the comedy trio Sooshi Mango.

Since 2015 when brother’s Joe and Carlo Salanitri and their best friend Andrew Manfre decided to record a bit of slapstick comedy they weren’t expecting it to capture people’s imaginations the way it did. That video was instantly viewed more than 9 million times!

These days it’s not unusual for their recordings like a kitchen skit depicting a traditional Italian Christmas Day to have over 100 million views. They regularly sell out live comedy shows around the country and have the honour of being the only comedy show to have ever sold out three performances in a row, in Rod Laver Arena.

They’ve killed it with a successful podcast, have interviewed endless celebrities (their chat with Robbie Williams is particularly fun) and even launched their own wine brand. Earlier this year, the man they consider is the GOAT, Jerry Seinfeld sent them this message in response to an uploaded video, “You guys are genius. So Funny. Love this One! Nobody does what you’re doing. Never Stop.”

The formula for their success, they believe, is that whilst dressing up in characters — as mums: Giuseppina, Carmela and Angela, and dads: Johnny, Vince and Sam, they draw their inspiration from the people closest to them, poking fun at their own cultures . . . but there’s nothing mean-spirited or nasty in what they do or depict. In fact, they constantly make a point of paying homage to their mum’s and dads who were hard working immigrants who contributed to the Australia we enjoy today.

Given their entire focus in recent years was to keep people amused, you could understand why their decision to open an Italian Restaurant on Melbourne’s famous Lygon Street, named after their dad characters, Johnny, Vince and Sam, was initially considered the ultimate joke by many.

It was described as “baffling” by one critic, and another admitted they thought, “it sounded like the set up to one of their gut-busting skits”, but it turns out these three were deadly serious about their restaurant venture.

They enlisted the help of experienced culinary stalwarts in Johnny Di Francesco (restaurateur and Director of the Gradi Group), Dani Zeini (Royal Stacks Burger restaurant Founder), along with Steven Ballerini (CEO of Cora Group), to help them run things smoothly, but deliberately decked out the restaurant as a recreation of Nonna’s house.

The tables are double layered – first with a delicate lace tablecloth, which is then covered in thick plastic. The walls are a daggy floral wallpaper; there’s a 70’s brick archway, brown corduroy banquettes, chandeliers, crystal cabinets, loads of knickknacks and framed pictures including of “The Last Supper”.

It’s such a visual feast; from the moment you walk in you find your eyes constantly scanning the décor as memories constantly pop into your head.

Again, it’s based entirely on nostalgia. They knew the gimmick of the idea would get fans to come in, (and they continue to do so in droves), but knew the food have to be simple but delicious to keep them coming back. It’s obviously working.

They recently opened the upper floor of the building to seat a further 110 patrons, be able to service private rooms for larger groups, and with a bigger bar and 3am licence. There’s even talk they will be opening another restaurant in Sydney’s Little Italy in Leichhardt.

Last year they completed a staggering 39 performances of their live show Home Made and now due to popular demand, they are back. Their Encore tour gets underway in August around the country, so if you want to see them in action for yourself, you’d better be quick. Tickets are selling like hotcakes.

Head to SooshiMango.com and make sure you watch Better Homes and Gardens tonight from 7pm on Channel 7 or 7Two, or you can catch up anytime on 7plus.

@johgriggs7