About Sara

Authentically Italian

Sara Theresa Agnello was born in the Bronx, the third of five children and the only girl. In an Italian family in those days, that meant she helped her mother care for her father and brothers.

“But Mama didn’t like to cook,” said Sara. “She used to ask me, ‘You wanna cook or clean?’ Of course, I always chose to cook, and I was better than she was. Mama would actually try to trick my dad into thinking she had prepared dinner. She’d say, ‘Now, don’t tell your father you cooked today.’ Then Dad would come home, take a taste and say, ‘So, I see Sara’s been cooking.” I wanted to please him so much that I worked extra hard to make it special.”

Cooking became Sara’s passion. While other children played stickball, Sara curled up and read cookbooks and experimented with herbs and sauces under the loving direction of her Sicilian Grandmother Foti. As an adult, she waitressed at restaurants and worked as a supermarket checker to make ends meet, but her interests remained in the kitchen where she felt most comfortable, creating authentic meals for family & friends.

“I learned how to cook from my Grandmother Foti, who lived with us. I was about eight years old when I started cooking with her, and I remember dragging a chair over to the stove or sink to stand on, helping her clean the ingredients or doing whatever I could to help while I learned her techniques.” – Sara