My name is Michelle La Fata, many of my friends and family call me “Shelly.” I am the great granddaughter of four Sicilian immigrants. I grew up walking through my grandparents’ large garden, eating Italian meals and cookies prepared by my family. Making tomato sauce is religious for most Italian families, and it’s no different for the La Fata’s.
 

These days, I am buying all of my tomatoes from local farmers here in Columbia, MO. It is an honor to have access to beautiful food. Working with local farmers is my full time job. If you see a vegetable in the name of a menu item, we bought it from a neighbor, a friend or a vendor at the Columbia Farmers Market.

 

Our meat is sourced locally 100% of the time. The eggs in our pasta are organic, from chickens who walk through the grass, in the sun, eating bugs. We use the best domestic flour available from North Dakota. The sugar in our cookies is non-GMO and the butter is from grass-fed cows on a family farm. Our standards are very high. Food is medicine. We promise to always offer the best.

 

One of my favorite parts of this job is interacting with the community and my customers. I started this business as a “pop-up” that traveled around downtown Columbia to bars and concert venues. I was changing the menu often, learning what people like to eat and what I like to feed them. Toasted Ravioli were a hit. I realized if I could make t-ravs that people love, I could develop a popular Ravioli menu as well.

 

Now we have a team of 12 Service Industry professionals who work all week long to bring an ever growing menu of classics, specials and new favorites. Thank you for being part of this special journey with us. We love to hear from you. Please, reach out anytime. Ciao!