SBOL_Jeanne

By Carol Masshardt Filomena Lograsso, 75, of Sal’s Italian Ristorante and Pizzeria on L. St., looks back to her childhood in Abruzzi, Italy, and draws a quick connection to her lifelong skill and passion for cooking. She also looks ahead to a time when the third generation of her family with husband, Salvatore, continue the fine tradition. But, for now, she is in the kitchen most every day as she has been since 1986 when she and Sal turned a convenience store into the restaurant. “I came from Italy in 1965 at age 17,” she said. “I never studied cooking in the sense of going to school, but I watched my mother. She was a good cook, and I remember her making sauce, homemade pasta, [...]

By Carol Masshardt (This series focus is on the journey of area restaurant chefs) Joel Howard, 27, is a man of few words with a deep and clear passion for his work as Executive Chef at the popular Publico on 11 Dorchester St. This has earned him the respect of customers, his boss and team. Growing up in the central, Ma town of Spencer, his parents were in other kinds of work, but his older brother, Patrick, paved the way. That led to eventually working with Birch St. Bread Co. in Worcester with mentor Robert Fecteau among other chefs who inspired his French technique and work ethic. “My brother is a chef now in Worcester’s Lock 50 and watching him is what helped turn my [...]

    By Carol Masshardt (This series will focus on local chefs) Moonshine’s owner/chef, Asia Mei, could be doing a million things successfully. A Boston College graduate in Biology and Economics with minors in Film and Education, Asia, 40, was a competitive gymnast and has enough sustained intellectual and physical energy to take on most any challenge. She is a keen observer even as she moves at an Olympic pace. “I had a revelation that people had a passion for what they were doing, and I only hoped that I would find something that was mine,” she said of her early experiences. It would not have been easily predicated that this oldest child or Chinese immigrant parents from Silicon Valley, California would be so totally [...]