Stefanie Paganini’s mother Loretta started The Loretta Paganini School of Cooking over 30 years ago. Loretta came to the United States from Italy where she was a school teacher. While there she really valued the slow-food movement that encourages families to share a delicious and finely cooked meal around the table together.
When Loretta first came to the United States, she started teaching people how to cook. It was important to Loretta that people were cooking with their families and being a family.
“It’s remains a strong mission for her that families cook together, families eat together, and that it keeps the family together,” Stefanie says about her mom’s passion for cooking.
Shortly after she arrived, she founded the Loretta Paganini School of Cooking so she could really teach people hands on. The school has been growing strong ever since. Cooking classes are available for children and adults ages 3 all the way up to 99+.
Cooking classes include:
- Pasta
- Sushi
- Baking
- Decorating
- Other Cooking
At the Forefront of the Greater Cleveland Area Culinary Movement
For those interested in cooking professionally, The Loretta Paganini School of Cooking founded a trade school division over a decade ago called The International Culinary Arts and Sciences Institute or ICASI that is registered with the state board of colleges. The school became the first professional culinary school in the Cleveland area for students who wanted to train as chefs.
“We developed a professional program based on European techniques and what was needed in the industry,” Stefanie says. “Now we have hundreds of our school’s graduates working in the Cleveland area as skilled chefs.”
Stefanie Paganini is an educator and pastry chef at ICASI. Her grandmother in Italy, who broke a lot of gender barriers being a professional pastry chef, in a time when women were expected to stay at home, inspired her.
“What drives me on a daily basis is watching how this education changes lives,” Stefanie shares. “A trade where you will always be able to find employment because you are a skilled worker, a skilled professional is amazing. It fills me with pride to see how our school has helped grow this culinary boom in Cleveland.”
Driven by Passion
Though she was passionate about teaching cooking to people, Loretta Paganini always dreamed of having her own restaurant. So a few years ago, Sapore Restaurant was born. When it first opened she hired an executive chef to run the restaurant but two years ago, she decided to take that position over and run the restaurant herself.
“You actually get a meal cooked by Loretta Paganini at Sapore Restaurant on either Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night,” Stefanie says. “We’re a secret gem. Many people are not aware that there is a fine-dining Italian restaurant here in Chesterland in Geauga County.”
At Sapore Restaurant, everything you eat is made from scratch including the sauces, pasta, and bread. Because the restaurant is only open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, everything is always fresh and hand-made.
It’s a misconception that you have to drive all the way downtown for fine cooking. At Sapore, you can have the prix fixe dinner or order a la carte. People are also offered the opportunity to order fine Italian take out. This is a perfect option for a romantic candlelit dinner at home.
Community Roots Go Deep
The culinary school and Sapore Restaurant have long standing partnerships with local community farms. These farms’ products get highlighted in cooking classes like a recent apple class featuring Patterson’s Apples and a pork class that highlighted New Creation Farm’s pork products.
“I love it because people are eating the kind of food I grew up with,” Stefanie says. “It’s my mom’s cooking. It is something unique to us in Geauga County. We don’t have a lot of fine-dining restaurants here so being able to have one close to us is great. It shows how Geauga County is growing.”
One of the biggest marketing challenges for the culinary school is that as a privately owned institution, they don’t get federal funding. Because of this, the marketing budget is tight so they rely on the quality of their education and other creative ways to get the word out.
“We just finished the Fabulous Food Show. We offer our students an experience. They get to work there and be part of the show cooking. They get to prep all the food. We got there not because we had marketing dollars but because we have amazing students willing to work hard,” Stefanie says.
“When you are a small business you have to have a little ingenuity to stretch your small marketing dollars and make them go further,” she says. “Be willing to live your business. It is not a 9-5 job when you start a business. Anytime you’re a small business owner, eat, sleep and breathe the business.”
Check out some current cooking classes at Loretta Paganini’s School of Cooking.
Remember to call ahead if you would like a reservation at Sapore Restaurant on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.
