Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Ferrazzani.
Leah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started Semolina Artisanal Pasta in 2014 out of my laundry room. I’d always loved making fresh pasta for fun but had started to rely on my pantry much more after having babies. When I couldn’t find locally made, organic dried pasta I decided to learn how to make it myself!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I don’t think any business has an easy time getting off the ground, but starting and running Semolina has been an exercise in tenacity, for sure. I’ve battled my pasta extruder–it won, and I got 17 stitches–my pasta dryer, the environment, mega flour mills that don’t want to sell to startups, high overhead, the gluten-free trend, low margins, and distribution monopolies that soak small food businesses with endless fees. But I’ve learned a lot, and I try to share that knowledge to save other food startups the same grief. And I’ve worked hard to build a good community among the other pasta makers I know because we need each other to change how people perceive pasta.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Semolina Artisanal Pasta story. Tell us more about the business.
I started Semolina to make dried pasta that was on par with the best of Italy. That has meant using traditional methods: extruding through bronze dies rather than teflon so the pasta has a rough surface texture to hold sauce, only using Semolina so that the pasta has great tooth and drying slowly at low temperatures so that the pasta has flavor.
Over the past year, we’ve started making fresh pasta for restaurants, and it’s been a lot of fun. We work with some of the city’s best chefs, including Nancy Silverton at Osteria Mozza, Matt Molina at Hippo, Christian Yang and Joe Marcos at Yang’s Kitchen, Chris Feldmeir at Love & Salt and Ted Hopson at the Bellwether.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t really think about luck much. I think business is about taking chances and learning from mistakes.
Pricing:
- Semolina Artisanal Pasta Organic Dried Pasta $7.99-$9.99/pound at our Pasadena location and around the city
- Semolina Artisanal Pasta Organic Fresh Pastas (at our Pasadena location only) $12.00/pound
Contact Info:
- Address: Semolina Artisanal Pasta
1976 Lincoln Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91103 - Website: www.semolinapasta.com
- Phone: 323-352-8564
- Email: info@semolinapasta.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/semolinaartisanalpasta
- Facebook: facebook.com/semolinaartisanalpasta
- Twitter: twitter.com/semolinala
Image Credit:
Mike Medoway, Leah Ferrazzani, Jules Exum
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