The Sault’s Tricia Iacoboni is a cook and baker who is enjoying success operating her business - Tricia's Kitchen - out of her own home.
Her business is the result of a career change in 2018.
“I worked in payroll for many years and I did a lot of contract work for Brookfield Power, school boards and construction companies. When my daughter started elementary school I decided to leave that and become a stay at home mom.
"But I can’t sit still. I got extremely bored so I thought I would start a little home-based business doing homemade ravioli and pasta. I started selling to family and friends just to try it out and it grew,” Iacoboni told SooToday.
An experienced cook, Iacoboni discovered a new skill upon starting her own business.
“I had never baked a day in my life. I went and bought a mixer and I just ran with it and it really took off. I make different types of cheesecakes that you can’t really find in stores – like Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cheesecake, Snickers cheesecake and even cheesecake cake that has cheesecake in the centre with cake on top and on the bottom.
"I sell a lot of those. I’m a self-taught baker. I watched some YouTube videos and just went with it. I started baking for family members to try first, then I started selling baking to family members along with friends.”
Word of her baking prowess got around and now Sandro's Family Restaurant sells her cheesecake creations.
She has also baked for Arturo Ristorante and the former Tazzi's Cafè.
“Things are pretty good. I have a home-based business that’s getting pretty busy,” said Iacoboni, who finds herself extra busy preparing orders for the current Christmas season.
Iacoboni receives and prepares orders for pasta dishes - such as lasagna - as well as ravioli, freezing them at a separate, Algoma Public Health-approved business kitchen space in her home. Customers come to pick up their orders and heat them at their own homes.
All her baked items are sold from her home fresh, not frozen.
“I started off doing specialty ravioli like butternut squash ravioli. You don’t really see those in the Sault very often. They’re kind of hard to find. The same with my pasta. I do roasted red pepper pasta, pumpkin pasta, spinach pasta, stuff you can’t really find.”
Iacoboni said she is a busier person now as compared to when she worked in office environments.
“Eventually I wouldn’t mind taking this business outside my home and opening up somewhere and expanding in the future.”
Orders for pasta, ravioli and baking can be placed through the Tricia's Kitchen website and the Tricia’s Kitchen social media page.
“I feel like I’m bringing comfort to people’s homes with these pasta dishes that are hard to find in the Sault, like roasted red pepper pasta. It brings smiles to their faces and so do the cheese cakes. Making birthday cakes and wedding cakes brings enjoyment to people. It’s a nice feeling. I used to be in an office but now it’s nice to be out there and doing something different,” Iacoboni said.
