ITALIAN MAGIC
IN THE KITCHEN.
by Janie Lin
Celebrated Italian cooking school instructor and
acclaimed author Rita Romano, together with Clarissa
Burt, International Supermodel/ Entrepreneur created
a cookbook gem called “Italian Gluten Free Gastrono-
my”.
Rita Romano was born in Bari Italy. As the youngest of
10 siblings, Rita was born into a family with deep
appreciation of culinary arts. While she was living in
both Naples and La Spezia (near Genoa), Rita devel-
oped a familiarity of the abundance of foods from
these vastly different regions.
When she was a child, she would watch her sister’s
create appetizing masterpieces using a few essential
ingredients such as olive oil, pasta, tomatoes, garlic,
parsley and vivid imaginations. With six older sisters
in the kitchen trying to outdo each other, the outcome
was always a delight for the tastebuds. With her sister
Lucia’s encouragement, Rita became the family “food
critic”. Before too long she had earned the title of
“Golosa”, meaning she liked nothing but the best.
The budding young food fan immigrated to Philadel-
phia with her parents and five of her siblings when she
was 11. Rita learned about American food by work-
ing in the food department for the Airlines after she
graduated high school. She became supervisor for the
Alitalia Airlines which offered her the opportunity to
travel back and forth between the US and Europe.
She passionately seized the opportunity to take
advantage of experiencing the culinary creativity of
two entirely different worlds.
In 1980 Rita moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Her culinary
wings continued to expand and spread, her proficien-
cy at creating amazing culinary marvels continued to
grow. 10 years later she opened and operated three
Italian Restaurants in the Phoenix and Scottsdale
areas, specializing in Pasta. Rita developed 31
delicious pasta sauces that were available in her
restaurants. Encouraged by the ardent fervor of her
customers to share her recipes, as well as her knowl-
edge and skill of Italian food, Rita began writing cook-
books.
Within two years, Rita had published her first cook-
book and started her Italian cooking school. Like any
true Italian, she loves pasta, and is thoroughly
convinced that everyone else should appreciate it too.
This passion gave birth to Rita’s Authentic Cooking
Classes, where the students got to experience “hands
on” techniques in the art of Italian cooking. After
preparing the dishes on the menu, students would
enjoy the fruits of their labor along with animated
conversation on the finer points of cooking…..in true
Italian form.
One of Rita’s most successful cooking class series is
her “Singles Classes”. Young professionals don’t have
much time to cook or to socialize, and they miss the
homeyness and good natured banter of a family. Six
to 10 people would crowd into her little guest house
that she had converted into one big kitchen, and help
her to prepare a full course meal. When the food was
prepared everyone would sit at the big table and eat
together.
Rita says “I am the classic Italian. I believe in
romance. I combine romance with the beauty of the
meal, yet in a homey atmosphere. We tease and we
laugh a lot, so everyone is comfortable.” While steam
rises from pots of boiling pasta and fragrances of
wine, garlic and fresh herbs….mingled with tradition-
al Italian music, Rita gives her students culinary tricks
“to create the marriage between the sauce and the
pasta”.
Pasta and Sauce weren’t the only marriages to come
from Rita’s weekly singles cooking classes. The space
she created and made available ignited the timeless
and often forgotten heartfelt connections that come
from working together as a team and learning authen-
tic family togetherness. For Rita, it’s not just the amaz-
ing food, it’s the energy that it’s cooked with, the com-
pany, and a fine glass of red wine that creates the
magical atmosphere.
Rita is now co-creating “Italian Gluten Free Gastrono-
my” with Clarissa Burt. This new adventure in Italian
cooking was inspired by Clarissa’s intolerance to
gluten and celiac disease. Clarissa, born in the US,
moved to Milan, Italy where she appeared on over
100 magazine covers, worked on all the major
runway fashion shows in Milan, Rome, Paris, New
York and Japan, and became the face for Orlane Cos-
metics.
While living in Milan, Clarissa developed a deep
love for Italian cuisine and noticed that some foods
were causing her physical discomfort. When Rita and
Clarissa had a conversation about this it gave birth to
the “Italian Gluten Free Gastronomy” cookbook.
These two incredible ladies have put their heart and
soul into the 70 delicious recipes featured. In mid Sep-
tember the e-book will be released on Amazon,
Barnes & Noble, Apple and more, followed by the
initial printing run of the hardback copies.
www.ritasrecipes.com