Leigh Foster and Rachel Marshall

Rachel studied cooking at the renowned Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. Leigh grew up on a farm, learning food prep from her parents, reading cookbooks and watching food shows. Their passion for food led them both (separately) to Florence, Italy to study Italian cuisine, unaware that they were just a few cobblestone blocks away from each other. Rachel at Apicius Culinary Institute and Leigh at Lorenzo De’Medici. They wouldn’t meet until 3 years later at a Boston Design firm, where they bonded over their love of food. Not in love with their jobs, they began planning to open their own food business. Leigh had entrepreneurial experience from a small company she owned a few years back. For both, fresh pasta was top of mind, having fallen for it in Florence. Educated on the politics of food, they knew exactly what to put inside. As fate would have it, a few months later they were laid off. So they went to work full time on their Nella concept. Soon folks of Massachusetts began enjoying everything that went into Nella Pasta.