CT couple from Rome opens pasta shop here. Customers say, It’s best ‘I’ve ever had’
Anna Landi and husband, Davide, left the hustle bustle of their professional careers in Rome, Italy to make pasta from scratch in West Hartford and customers say their products are magnifico.
“We’ve eaten all over the world and this is the best pasta I’ve ever had,” said regular customer Ernie Little, of he and wife, Melissa.
“There’s something about the texture when you bite into it,” he said.
The Landis opened “More Italian Pasta Lab” at 54 LaSalle Road six months ago, hiring a manager to get it started, then then moved here two months ago with their daughter, 7.
In their 900-square-foot space the couple makes from scratch pasta of numerous shapes and two recipes from flour imported from Italy.
They also sell their homemade sauce, both Bolognese and tomato based, as well as from scratch ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach, lemon and ricotta, truffle and ricotta and more.
In addition, they sell their store-made lasagna in trays and have a wide variety of imported products from Italy made in specific regions where the products are done best, Anna Landi said, including olive oils, chocolate, cheeses including one made from the milk of specific types of cows and in another case, sheep.
They also sell aromatic butters and homemade Tiramisu made with Panettone cake.
They have a selection of pesto and delicacies such as onions stuffed with tuna from Italy.
“The Roman kitchen is one of the healthiest in the world. We have a lot of fresh ingredients,” Landi said. “We wanted to share the culture of the food.”
Born on the Amalfi coast where she kept ties because of her grandparents, Landi grew up in Rome and stayed familiar with and “appreciated the food culture” of both regions, blending them.
Anna Landi was in the financial industry in Rome, a comptroller who commuted 90 minutes to work each day. Davide Landi worked as a biologist.
Landi wanted to work with food, but said they didn’t open in Rome because the taxes are high, the economy poor ever since the COVID-19 pandemic and many people are unemployed.
They chose the United States because of its “culture of the opportunities,” and the principle of, “If you work hard, you can get ahead,” she said.
“It’s one of the best feelings in the world to have satisfied,” she said.
They chose West Hartford – with which they had no prior connection – because it was a town, as opposed to a big city like New York or Boston, and has an excellent school system, she said.
“We wanted a little town with a big quality of life,” Anna Landi said. “West Hartford is a very interesting place because in a couple of hours you can reach other cities and it has a great school system for our daughter.”
Patricia Alquist has become a regular customer, who said the Landis are “super friendly,” and their food is “fresh” and “delicious.”
“It doesn’t feel heavy in your stomach,” Alquist said. “I want them to be a business that stays.”
Alquist said Anna Landi is also always willing to guide her and give tips in making her own food at home, including pasta sauce.
“They’re sweet, knowledgeable, enthusiastic,” she said, noting the lemon/ricotta ravioli is one of her favorites.
Customer Theresa Rossi said Landi uses premium ingredients with no preservatives, artificial flavors, and healthfulness is important to her in feeding the family.
“I think it’s the best fresh pasta I’ve ever had. And I’ve had a lot,” Rossi said.
She’s never without the truffle ravioli, as it’s the favorite of her five-year-old grandson Sebastian.
“The fillings in the ravioli are so delicious,” Rossi said.
Landi said she misses family and friends in Italy, but doesn’t miss living in the country at all.
Here, she has an eight minute walk to work.
“I really like to have a higher quality of life. I don’t like to spend all my life in traffic,” she said.
She said they named the business, “More Italian Pasta Lab,” because it’s like a laboratory for pasta and “more” because they strive to offer more than other stores.
In addition to the products offered in the store, the business caters and even offers a chef at home service where they will cook in a customer’s home for guests.
” Our business is going to be appreciated much more day by day,” Landi said.