Local Spotlight: Vita Cacciari of Vita Pasta Lab + Virtual Italian Cooking Classes

If not for my friend Micaela, I might have never met Vita Cacciari. Micaela sent me a text one night after she attended a pasta making class at Wakeman Town Farm. She asked if I knew of any commercial kitchen spaces so the woman who teaches these classes could have more options in the area. Micaela’s text, in regard to “the woman,” were of high praise; amazing, hard worker, and nice person were all phrases she used to describe Vita. “She’s Italian” was another.

A slew of photos, video, and a website link followed. I browsed Vita’s site for her cooking class business, Vita Pasta Lab, and was instantly curious. I like to cook. I like to learn. I LOVE pasta. And Vita’s pasta looked stunningly beautiful.

A few months passed and I was granted a spot in one of Vita’s classes on pasta ripiena (stuffed pasta) where we’d learn to make ravioli and tortellini. Not only was Vita full of energy and passion for her craft, it was a nice way to bring strangers together over a common love of food—and the BYOB wine share. As the wine flowed, so did the snacks. To begin, there’s a welcome period over apps and mozzarella bread courtesy of Vita. Then the action begins.

Under Vita’s tutelage, we learned how to roll pasta via KitchenAid attachment and manual hand crank. We’d then fill, cut, and in the case of the tortellini…tie our handmade creations.

Cooking class, social, organization and fun!! This was The Lasagna workshops, in Westport CT. #giveaway #ctcookingclass #italiandishes #usa #tradition #modena #farfieldbeach #fairfieldfood

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It’s all interactive. Vita encourages discussion, entertains questions, and asks for feedback. She even went on to make, and teach, a few simple sauces; one a quick pomodoro for the spinach-ricotta tortellini, the other a carbonara, with guanciale, of course, for a heaping plate of pumpkin ravioli.

Just as much as I liked her class, I liked her, too. Her life in Italy, her culture, her values, then coming to the United States fascinated me.

Shortly after I was her student for a night, we met up for an early lunch and coffee so I could get to know her better. Here’s some of our conversation about her upbringing and culinary journey.

Tell us a little bit about your background in Italy.

I’m from Sicily. Both of my parents are full Sicilian. I’m from Marsala, the west side of Sicily. I remember there not being much opportunity, and education there is not good. Some of the kids work and most people are fisherman or work on a farm. If you’re in a city like Palermo or Catania, there are good universities but not everyone can afford it. My family couldn’t. My mom comes from a poor family where only my grandpa worked with a family of six kids. My mom was the first female and took care of her brother and sister as well. On my dad’s side, my grandma and grandpa were well educated and had a popular deli in Marsala. Families are very big, and kids have to help support the family, so we had to feed a very big family. All the women cook. One of my grandmothers, I remember her having to feed 15 people!

In the summer, we would go to my aunt’s house who lived closer to the sea, where the cuisine is different. She had lots of animal’s around. It was amazing. She has “gold” hands. Everything she touched, for me, was gold; sewing, drawing, she cooked like a chef. My mom would send me there in the summer to stay close to the beach and my relatives so I wouldn’t lose that relationship.

We moved to Emilia Romagna and learned a lot about cooking from my friends because we didn’t have any family there.

Did you ever work in the food industry?

I studied fashion design, but the industry was in crisis then. My mom suggested I study ceramic tile design. I did it but it wasn’t my passion. My family decided to open a gelateria, and they told me if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have to stay working there. I worked there 16 hours a day, maybe 4-5 hours of sleep every night. In a family business in Italy, you have to take care of everything.

In the winter we closed the shop, because no one eats gelato here in the winter, I took courses from chefs. I became more confident making gelato and cakes and I wanted to go further.

What brought you to the U.S.?

When I was young, 15 or 16, I met a guy and I was with him for about five years. When we broke up, my mom said, “Vita, you’re crazy! You wasted five years of your life!”

Now I was 20, and said, fuhgeddaboudit! I need to live my life, explore the world, go out with my friends. I didn’t want any guy. I wanted to be by myself.

I met my (now) husband, Andrea, and told him I wasn’t ready yet. After a few years we met in Mykonos (Greece) when I was with my girls on vacation and he wanted to hang out. We started dating. He’s in the ceramic tile business so he always traveling and whenever he came to Italy, we spent time together.

He came to me one day and asked, “Can we talk?” I thought he was going to break up with me! He told me he had to move for work and asked if I would want to go with him. When he came back, it was around the time we would close the gelateria for winter. I asked my family if it was OK to give it a try for three months. I went to Dallas. I didn’t know if I would like it, but I fell in love.

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How’d you get to Connecticut?

Unfortunately, my mother-in-law got sick. We went back to Italy for nine years, from 2006-2015. In Texas, I worked for Tetra Pak, but I didn’t like it. I took lots of cooking classes while back in Italy with chefs, pastry chefs. I took another job working for Bosch. Then, my husband came home and said, “Remember what you told me when you came to Dallas? That you’d go anywhere?” I told him my luggage was ready to go. This time his work took him to New York City. Right at this time, we had two kids, and I didn’t want to live in the city. I wanted to live in a quieter area where I could stay with the kids and he could still be close enough to New York.

How did you start teaching pasta making classes?

I met Maria Marchetti (owner of Columbus Park Trattoria) who’s from Puglia and comes from a similar, big family as I do. We became friends right away. She’s my star. Whenever I’m feeling down, I want to talk to her. Maria is in charge in her restaurant to prepare pasta from scratch. We have the same love for it.

She was writing a book about pasta and asked if I had time to test her recipes. I was honored. She knows that I love to cook. I would always bring food to her house or cakes and they liked it. Every month she gave me a two or three recipes to test. She was my model to follow. I told her I wanted to start teaching cooking classes. She encouraged me to go ahead with it. I was worried because my English isn’t very good, I was worried people would take advantage of me, and that I would somehow embarrass my family.

I started by teaching three classes at my house in Fairfield. People liked it. I liked it because the classes helped connect people.

I wanted to improve my knowledge of food culture, so I prepared a resume and applied to a job at Garelick & Herbs to be a manager. I was afraid because I had no experience to be a manager. I had three interviews and got the job. Paula, my boss, was amazing. I asked her if I could teach a pasta and pizza making classes in the Saugatuck store after hours. She really liked the idea. From there, I met a customer who introduced me to the people at Wakeman Town Farm.

(Aside from what I’ve already mentioned) What can people expect from your classes?

I like to keep small groups. I want people to go home thinking they learned something. If I’m talking to too many people, I can’t get around to everyone. I want to keep teaching at Wakeman Town Farm, but I teach private classes as well. I teach basic pasta making, making the dough from scratch, using a rolling pin, no machines, then we decide what type to make. Other classes focus on ravioli, tortellini, tagliatelle, lasagna, cannelloni, pizza, and focaccia. At the beginning I make appetizers, bread, and students bring their own wine. I’m teaching the food of my culture.

Check out Vita Pasta Lab’s upcoming classes on her website. Hopefully more will be added as things begin to reopen and when it is safe to do so.