Cocina Milonga

For Chefs, Booming Home Businesses In New York and California

"Starting a pasta business was a goal for Josh Tango, an alum of Three Star The French Laundry and The Restaurant at Meadowood, so when California began closing up last spring, he got to work on hand-cut pappardelle and squid ink fettuccine. He now makes those and hyper-seasonal pastas like shishito and ramp (the ramps are foraged by a friend in Chicago whom he met while staging at Three Star Alinea). Tango's favorite is squid ink—he says he's always enjoyed both eating and working with seafood, though the seasonal pastas, with their limited run, are also snapped up by customers. The pastas are made with organic, free range eggs from Napa farm Taramasso Ranch. Add sauce (Bolognese and tomato), meatballs, and grated Parmesan, and dinner is a breeze. Tango laughs thinking of his learning curve. 'When I first started, I had absolutely zero packaging, so I bought some ziplock containers at $4/ container. Mind you, that was about 60% of the price of a single serving of pasta. Since then, I’ve managed to find recyclable boxes, which are far more cost-effective.' The home pasta business is tough; Tango has found Napa Valley sales to be unreliable, but he says pop-ups are going steadily and hopes he can grow Tango with Chef into a full-time business. Follow @tango_with_chef for updates." - Sophie Friedman