Cucina Della Cucina
Serving Up Gourmet Ravioli and Fresh Pasta Products
By Eileen Jackson
For 20 years the company that translates as “Kitchen’s Kitchen” has been doing a lot of things refreshingly right in the pasta category. Their handcrafted-style gourmet ravioli and pasta truly tastes like it was made right in a chef’s kitchen allowing chefs to offer fresh, innovative renditions of time-honored classics to their customers.
This family-owned business started by mother and son duo, Barbara and Kevin Luboff, combined their vast experience in restaurant management, food service, nutrition, and recipe design and mixed it with the strong finance background from the family patriarch. “What better partners than your family. My Mom, a registered dietician, and food chemistry background, came from Health Valley Foods and was the ghostwriter for their fat-free cookbooks.” boasts Kevin Luboff.
Even though they had to build a USDA facility from the ground up, the Luboff family didn’t have any doubts or concerns when they started their business in 1998. Kevin declares, “We were going to be doing what we love, and it was offering a way to be involved with food. The greatest reward was and still is seeing our customers written up in the local papers and being a part of their business.”
Only the Finest and Freshest Ingredients
Cucina Della Cucina’s ravioli and pasta are made the way a gourmet chef would create them – by hand, using the utmost care and only the best ingredients. In fact, Barbara and Kevin created and continue to develop all of their recipes to this day. While other companies make pre-cooked products, Cucina believes in making fresh product only. “Our passion is food and celebrating the flavors of ingredients such as fresh herbs and vegetables picked within 24 hours, and parmesans that we grate from the wheel. We believe in making products for chefs – think of us as your behind-the-scenes chef” says Kevin. Cucina Della Cucina focuses on creating a product that is indeed equal to what a chef would create which saves on labor costs and allows more availability to focus on other menu items. They offer free support services, food cost analysis, and even customized product development. Special orders are available with an approximate one week lead time to anything they manufacture, too.
Located in the San Fernando Valley next to so many farms allows Kevin and his team access to many quality manufacturers and ingredients. Making fresh product and flavors possible for their customers is just the way Kevin believes in doing things, “We don’t know any other way, except for the best quality.”
Jordano’s carries eight of Cucina’s many specialty and epicurean ravioli. A crowd-pleaser is a sophisticated blend of Japanese pumpkin (Kabocha), sweet potato & Mascarpone with a touch of garlic. It’s wrapped in a natural and fresh carrot pasta skin (JFS #43424). Although it is catered to the fall season, it’s amazingly tasty year-round. If you’re looking for ravioli to serve with any dish, try one with smooth, creamy ricotta and Meyer Lemon accented with local, wild arugula (JFS #43428). It erupts with a sweet and peppery flavor in each bite. It tastes great served on arugula greens with balsamic and fresh parmesan. You can even add on proteins such as chicken, scallops, shrimp and goat cheese.
The Value of Relationships
Kevin Luboff admits that part of their continued success stems from their strong relationship with Jordano’s Foodservice. “We are not just a product code, we are a partner. We consider it a privilege to be a vendor partner” he says. The fact that Jordano’s is a family-owned, independent foodservice distributor is something that Kevin can relate to, “Jordano’s is a lot like Cucina Della Cucina. We both compete with a small business uniqueness and respect that you don’t find every day.”
If you haven’t tried Cucina Della Cucina products, we invite you to request a sample and try the Cucina difference.