Marisa Huff

Teaches at La Scuola at Eataly Flatiron

Marisa Huff is a native Californian and avid home cook, turned Italian food and beverage expert. An arbiter of taste, if you will. Her first cookbook, Aperitivo, will be published by Rizzoli in early April 2016. When not sipping on a spritz, Marisa spends her days working as the Director of Communications for the Alajmo family restaurant group, based in Padua, Venice, and Paris.

Marisa originally came to Italy to study Italian literature as an exchange student at the University of Padua. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in the subject, she returned to Italy as a Fulbright fellow to continue her research in Rome. Her time was divided between organizing Letterature, the annual international literature festival held in the Roman Forum, and trying her hand at traditional Roman recipes.

Upon accepting that her love for carbonara ran deeper than that for Calvino, Marisa spent the early days of her career working for Slow Food International, helping to organize the first Terra Madre conference, a meeting of artisan food communities from around the world held bi-annually in Turin. She went on to work briefly for Alice Waters, the then vice-president of the Slow Food organization.

Marisa later moved to New York and, after a stint at Del Posto restaurant spent putting together the hospitality management team, she became Vogue (former, yet foremost) food editor Jeffrey Steingarten’s research assistant and official recipe tester. She held the position fearlessly for three years without breaking down into tears (or at least not in front of Jeffrey).

A whole lot of calories later, Marisa returned to Italy as the Special Projects Editor of La Cucina Italiana magazine. Her article of the Italian craft beer movement received a James Beard Award nomination.

Drawing on her insider’s perspective on Italian food, wine, and favorite social custom, the aperitivo, Marisa’s writing has also appeared in publications such as Wine & Sprits and The Art of Eating.

Marisa currently lives in Padua with her husband and daughter.