Food is an important aspect of culture and identity. It can be a powerful starting point for migrant women to share their cultural heritage and build connections with their local communities. The 3 KITCHENS project is an adult education initiative to empower migrant women in three key areas: volunteering, employment, and entrepreneurship. It offers a nurturing space where they can connect with their culinary heritage, acquire new skills, and gain confidence.
Val visited Stella and David from Pasta Fresca in Sligo town to find out more about their business. Stella is originally from Florence, and she has a pastry chef background, and she met David, who is originally from Sligo ten years ago.
The business started during lockdown when Stella’s mum sent over a pasta machine from Italy for Christmas. The couple had a lot of time on our hands during the first lockdown, so they started making pasta. They noticed a gap in the market for fresh pasta and fresh pasta sauces, so they took a stall at a local farmers market to see how it went.
The market stall grew in popularity and Stella and David opened their shop on Grattan Street in Sligo in September 2022. You can buy their award-winning fresh pasta, lasagnes, pasta sauces, Italian specialties and desserts with regularly changing specials. They also stock a variety of artisanal food products to buy from all over Italy.
Stella and David use a combination of natural Irish produce and authentic Italian pasta-making techniques to transform their locally sourced ingredients into delicious pasta shapes and dishes. In fact, Stella featured on ‘Neven’s Coastal Food Trails’, when she showed chef Neven Maguire how to make Italian Ravioli with Leitrim Hill Creamery Goat’s Cheese and Italian Chestnut Honey.
Val asked the couple if they had any advice to someone thinking of starting their own business:
David said:
“I would say is that it takes time and if you have confidence in what you’re doing, just have faith in it. Keep plugging away because it’s not going to happen overnight. You know, it’s one of these things that you have to set out a little bit of a timeline for yourself, be realistic with your expectations. I suppose for the first couple of years, things are going to be tough. You’re going to be discovering your market. If there is a market trying to add little bits and pieces to, I guess, appeal to people from maybe different from what you started out with.”
Stella added: “It takes work. It takes a bit of common sense as well, but if you have confidence, if you think your product is good, and you have faith in what you’re doing, just keep plugging away at it and hopefully things work out. I’d say start small. Listen to what customers say and what feedback they have and just kind of grow slowly and don’t give up, just keep thinking of what the next thing might be or can you do better.”
Stella has fond childhood memories of making pasta with her grandmother, and she uses some family recipes in her business. Food can bring you back to a moment in time, memories of family and friends, it’s part of our cultural heritage, and that’s one of the reasons that makes the 3 Kitchens project so important. You can find out more about the project here.
Thanks so much to Stella and David for their time. You can find them on Grattan Street in Sligo, and on Facebook and Instagram.
