While other children grew up playing “house” as their make-believe play, Executive Chef Gina Pezza of Vanda Cucina was busy playing “restaurant.” Turns out, she never stopped.
Pezza grew up in Johnston surrounded by good food, she says. Her mother was the oldest of five children and learned to cook early on and, though she had aspirations of being a chef, she chose an adjacent career as a dietician. As a result, Pezza says she was raised watching her mother make dishes from scratch, typically using healthy whole foods. It wasn’t long before Pezza was sidling up to her mother, rolling up her sleeves.
“There are pictures of me baking and making peach jam and strawberry jam with her when I was barely old enough to reach over the counters,” says Pezza. Some nights, her father helmed the kitchen, indulging the vibrant flavors of his Italian heritage by making traditional pastas and other favorites. And when they went out to eat, Pezza was entranced.
“I was just fascinated with the restaurant industry itself from a young age,” she recalls.
It was a school field trip to the Cranston Area Career and Technical Center that inspired Pezza to take her culinary interests more seriously.
“I was passionate about it,” she says about her experience attending the vocational school. “Some people would keep following recipes and keep following recipes, but I would make things up as I went, and that’s how I learned how to use my palate in cooking.”
Her palate only continued to sharpen as she earned an associate degree in culinary arts and a BS in Food Service Management, both from Johnson & Wales University, and as she worked her way through the ranks across Rhode Island’s culinary scene.
When Rhode Island restaurateur Dino Passaretta created the concept for Vanda Cucina, an ode to his late mother, Teresa “Vanda” Passaretta and her cooking, he knew this venture was different from the rest. “When I sat down and started looking at my mom’s recipes, a really, really strong feeling came over me that Vanda had to have a female chef,” he says. Pezza had worked as an event chef for Passaretta years prior at the Renaissance Hotel in Providence where he also operated Public Kitchen & Bar, and even though she hadn’t yet assumed an executive chef role, he knew she was the one to spearhead the popular Warwick restaurant. “I always felt like she had something special, something different,” says Passaretta. It had all the hallmarks of a serendipitous pairing; an amalgam of food, family and palpable motherly influence.
Together, Passaretta and Pezza conceptualized a menu that marries past and present; one that celebrates Italian American culinary culture, but that also weaves in creative re-imaginings and boundary-pushing flavors. Not radical, just resilient. Six years into the business, Passaretta says Pezza has full command of the kitchen and menu, and his every confidence.
“She’s done such an amazing job; she’s such a hard worker, she’s committed and incredibly focused,” he says, adding that her business acumen is equally extraordinary. “She’s right where she needs to be when it comes to the vision of Vanda.”
Pezza curates a late spring/early summer menu followed by a late summer/early fall menu to bask in the spoils of the summer harvest at peak readiness. Think ripened tomatoes and sweet corn, eggplant, peppers, green beans and more. She grew up going to Confreda Farms, where today she sources some of Vanda’s most popular dishes. Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon, Pippin Orchard in Cranston and RI Mushroom Co. in West Kingston are also Pezza’s trusted favorites as she weaves in their yields of asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb and other veggies at the peak of readiness.
As it is in the Old County, Pezza lets summer flavors thrive in their simplicity. “I can put fresh, ripe summer tomatoes with imported olive oil, imported burrata, stracciatella, or something like that, simply on a plate and it’s delicious,” says the chef. “The tomatoes, the corn, the zucchinis, the peppers, fresh eggplant; they have such great flavor in the summer that you really just want dishes to showcase the ingredients.”
Much like in her mother’s way, Pezza makes everything at Vanda Cucina from scratch, save for the homemade artisanal gelato from Pompelmo Gelateria in Westerly. “We’re making the sofrito, we’re grinding the meat, we’re slicing the garlic,” she explains. “There’s always something to do. Just staying organized and having a prep list and having eyes on everything is important,” says Pezza, who leads a dedicated staff, including Pastry Chef Doug Tella. “He really elevates us,” adds Pezza.
As she heads into her sixth summer at the reins of Vanda’s small but mighty kitchen, Pezza does so with confidence.
Andrea E. McHugh is a freelance writer who has written for the Hartford Courant, Baltimore Magazine, Daily Candy, Design Sponge, Providence Monthly and more. She resides in Newport.
Vanda Cucina
1 Centerville Rd, Warwick
VandaCucina.com
Find Chef Pezza’s recipe for Grilled Pork Chops with Corn Sauce and Peach Mostarda here.
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