Leta Merrill

My love affair with pasta began as a toddler around my Sicilian great-grandmother's dining table. No matter how much we ate, Grandma Mae would urge us to eat more.
A passion for pasta and cooking led me to Union Square Café in New York City, where I spent the majority of my time on the pasta station and in the pasta prep room. It was there that I learned the value of starchy pasta water, how to source seasonal ingredients, and how fresh pasta is made. An obsession was born.
I left the fast-paced world of restaurant kitchens to raise my two children, but I continued to make pasta in my own kitchen for friends and family.
In traditional Italian kitchens, the matriarch is the pastaia, providing hand-made pasta for her family daily. This tradition runs through my veins, and I am thrilled to bring Pasta Maia to your table.