FOOD MAMA
Chef Chelsey has a passion for Italian cuisine. She holds a degree in Italian Culinary Arts from The International Culinary Center (NYC) and ALMA (Parma, Italy). Chelsey specializes in dinner parties with wine pairings and homemade pasta. But culinary school won’t teach you everything. Chelsey credits her ability to effortlessly entertain and feed the masses to her mama, AKA Nona. Nona likes to say, “If you cook it, they will come.” In the Pagana family, Sundays are for la famiglia and “the gravy,” which basically equates to a whole lot of love!
Chelsey got the opportunity to live abroad in Italy during culinary school. Italian language classes, sommelier training, and field trips to Parmigiano-Reggiano factories were her favorite aspects of the program. Chelsey was offered an internship in Milan at the world-famous gastronomic market & restaurant, Peck. It was an Italian Catholic girl’s dream come true, considering that she lived steps away from the Milano Duomo, where she attended daily mass. During this time, Chelsey was also invited to train for Nike, becoming a key component of the Nike Italia initiative to inspire women in fitness. Chelsey led weekly Nike Training Club workouts to prominent female professionals and supermodels in Milan, all while studying to become a chef.
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Since food and fitness go hand in hand, Chelsey enjoys getting creative, developing meal plans and recipes for her personal training clients based on the Mediterranean diet. Her realistic and balanced approach to food has made her wellness programming attainable and gratifying for her clients. In Chelsey’s La Cucina Italiana, you’ll find fresh seasonal ingredients, protein from fish, eggs, and lean meat, and healthy fats from extra virgin olive oil and nuts, fresh herbs, and of course, good wine! Chelsey and her husband, Ricky, can’t live without their Vitamix blender for protein shakes and Jura coffee machine. Chelsey loves to cook in the kitchen with her girls, Camilla and Luciana. Her flex is that she’s gotten pretty good at sneaking vegetables into their favorite dishes!
