I've always been the kind of person who feeds people. I threw elaborate dinner parties all through college and grad school, spent my twenties working in hospitality — always telling myself it was a means to an end. Then I spent years as a food and wine writer, telling stories about the people who cooked and poured and cared. Eventually I understood: I didn't want to write about those people. I wanted to be one.
In 2014, I launched Semolina Artisanal Pasta from my home kitchen — dried pasta made the way it should be, from American-grown organic semolina, extruded through bronze dies, and dried slowly at low temperatures to preserve the flavor and texture that industrial drying destroys. Over the next decade, Semolina became a pantry staple for home cooks and chefs across the country, sold at Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, and independent markets, and served in Los Angeles restaurants including Hippo and Yang's Kitchen.
My food has always been a blend of a passion for local ingredients and deep respect for Italian tradition. I'm a home cook first and foremost, and my goal has always been to be the second-best Ferrazzani cook — second only to my grandmother-in-law, who set a bar I'm still happily chasing.
We've been part of the Pasadena and Altadena community since 2017, when we moved into our storefront on Lincoln Avenue. We fed our neighbors through Covid, persevered after the Eaton Fire, and are grateful to continue to be part of this resilient community. In 2024, we deepened those roots — transforming the space into Ferrazzani's Pasta & Market, a neighborhood shop built around that same handcrafted dried pasta, now joined by fresh pasta made daily, legendary Italian deli sandwiches, Italian ice, and a market stocked with Italian-inspired goods and house made prepared foods. The name changed. The commitment to quality, and to feeding people well, didn't.
Come visit.
We're excited to feed you.
— Leah Ferrazzani