It’s safe to say we have both been life-long foodies. In college, we were fortunate enough to spend semesters abroad in Florence, Italy. As it turns out, we both attended cooking classes only a few short cobblestone blocks away from each other. It wasn’t until three years later, however, that we met in Boston and immediately bonded over our shared interest– Food! We began scheming of ways we could enter the culinary world without working as chefs in a restaurant. What we initially thought was a far-fetched dream to start a specialty food company, eventually became a reality. Choosing the specialty was a given– handmade, fresh and healthy pasta. As partners, we bring our distinct backgrounds to run our business: Leigh being a previous entrepreneur and Rachel, a Cambridge Culinary School graduate. Combining these skills, we’ve transformed our passion into a business that allows us to support a food movement we strongly believe in. Today, we produce our pasta locally at Crop Circle Kitchen, a shared facility in Jamaica Plain, and sell in nearby farmer’s markets.
We chose the name “Nella” (simply “in the” in Italian) to convey our dedication to producing fresh, healthy pasta using simple, local ingredients. This year we’ve teamed up with local Mass farms committed to using sustainable and organic practices to obtain the produce used in our pasta. After all, it’s the ingredients in the pasta that make our product oh-so-tasty, wholesome & simple! Thank you for voting with your fork to support locally handcrafted food.
Please check out the local farms used in Nella Pasta
Rise & Shine Farm in Marshfield, Ma
Brookwood Community Farm, Milton & Canton, Ma
Springbrook Farm in Littlon, Ma
Stillman Farm in New Braintree, Ma
Allandale Farm in Brookline, Ma
While our website is under renovation, we’ve included just about everything you need to know right here on the blog. Take a peek at the tabs across the top of the page to find our main page featuring constantly updated posts, catering and special order information, frequently asked questions, recipes, and customer photo albums.
Happy Cooking!
Leigh & Rachel
31 Germania St. Buildings I & J Jamaica Plain, Ma 02130
Nellapasta@gmail.com (877) 89 Nella
13 Comments
March 16, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Leigh,
Your website looks great! I think you are going to be a grand success. I can’t wait to try out all of your creations (especially the dessert ravioli — I would have never thought of that!).
April 23, 2009 at 1:53 am
Leigh,
Congrats! The site looks great! Can you do mine?
xo
May 4, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Leigh! Wow your website looks great! The color and design is beautiful!!!!! We wish you the best!
Jill and Cecil
May 26, 2009 at 12:15 am
Leigh……I WANT ROYALTIES!!!!!!
May 31, 2009 at 3:49 am
They would be well deserved! FYI all– Vincenzo first taught me how to make homemade pasta!
May 31, 2009 at 2:27 pm
hahaha….congrats to you both….Wishing you the best in your venture…. You make a me proud….I think im gonna cry!!!
July 23, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Hey Leigh- Uncle George forwarded the link to us. Congratulations! You look fantastic and so does your food! Can we order dry pasta on-line? Hope to see you soon! We’re driving to MA in Sept and we’d love to say hi. Congrats again! -Aunt Robin
September 7, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Hi Aunt Robin! Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I can absolutely ship some dried pasta, or give it to you in person this month! When are you planning on coming to Boston? I’d love to see you and family
You can e-mail me at LeighFFoster@gmail.com
December 4, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Hello,
I am a professional chef of over 20 years, and am in the process of starting my own artisan pasta business here in Utah, and as I did research I discovered you on the web. I am long time member of Slow Foods as well as various chef organizations. I am rebuilding a old extrusion machine to start my company and will be making bronze die cut pasta as well. I made a lot of pasta back in the late eighties and early nineties using a small extrusion machine for my menu in California, (Santa Barbara). I am planning on using Turkey Hard Red Winter Wheat and milling it myself. I am having a hard time finding local Durum wheat and am writing to ask where you source your semolina. Thank you, and I must say I am so impessed with your site and the products as shown on the web. I especially appreciated the link to the Black Squid Ink Pasta, as this is such a special thing.
July 27, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Honeyville Grain, from Utah, has locally milled semolina. It will be great to have fresh pasta here in Utah! Keep us posted.
February 13, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Hi-
I just stumbled upon your blog and I am so excited about your business!! I have been trying to eat as locally as possible for the last year. I will definitely be looking for you at the Hingham market!!
May 5, 2010 at 12:03 am
Ladies-
I hope you have the support of all the Boston foodies out there. You definitely have mine. It’s very impressive to see such young talented people pursuing their dreams (working in finance, wanting to go to culinary school but I’m trigger shy). Let me know what food markets you’ll be at and I’ll be there! Best of luck although it looks like you don’t need it!
~Laura
May 5, 2010 at 7:38 am
Hi Laura-
Thanks so much! Luck is always welcome
As for culinary school, have you considered trying some individual classes? It might be a great way to try the cooking school life on for size without actually taking the plunge. Rachel would be happy to talk about her experience at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts with you, so definitely stop by one of the markets! If you visit the “locations” tab on the top the screen, you’ll find all the details, but we will be in Lexington, Prudential Center and Hingham this season. Thank again for your note and we look forward to meeting you!