Growing up in an Italian American household, it was natural for Paulette Licitra to pursue a career in Italian cooking. However, during her formative years in New York, the now chef and cookbook author, would never have predicted she’d pursue a path in culinary arts.
“I was surrounded by that kind of food,” she says of growing up with grandparents from Sicily and the Amalfi Coast. “But I really was not that interested in cooking when I was growing up. I lived in Rome for a year, as an undergrad and was really inspired by [Italian], which I feel is different than Italian American cooking. It’s certainly connected, but it's different. So that just created sort of a lifelong love of Italy and going there as often as possible and studying with home cooks and chefs in almost every region there because the food changes from region to region.”
Before she turned her passion for cooking into a career, Licitra worked as a writer, penning audio tour scripts for museums.
“I was living in New York City and when 9/11 happened, that whole industry just sort of fell on its face because anything that was not necessary in the economy, sort of just couldn't stand up to what happened,” she says. “So I was like scrambling, ‘What am I going to do now?’ So, I went to culinary school.”
After graduating from culinary school, Licitra worked in restaurants and later founded her own catering company. She eventually began working for an Italian chef, who would teach cooking classes and then have everyone sit down to enjoy the food paired with wine.
Though she was born in Brooklyn, raised on Long Island, and lived in New York all her life, in 2008 Licitra followed some of her family that moved to Nashville. She settled into the Bellevue community and after meeting an Italian language teacher in the area, she was encouraged to start her own variation of the cook-and-dine-style Italian cooking class.
“Then when COVID hit, I started doing Zoom classes,” she says. "People loved the Zoom classes and they wanted me to continue that even after COVID was over.”
She now hosts four cooking classes a month: two Zoom classes and two in-person. Attendees receive an ingredient list ahead of time to go shopping and the complete recipes of Italian favorites are sent to participants after they learn how to make them in class. In-person classes of approximately 12 people meet at Green Door Gourmet’s cooking cottage.
Some of Licitra’s favorite recipes to teach in her classes include fresh pasta, ravioli, and seafood pasta sauces. “When we do the in-person [class] and we sit down to eat, I really want the feeling of sort of that relaxed and ‘no hurry’ atmosphere,” she says. “We’re here, really, to dine, have wine, and I usually bring out a few after dinner drinks and espresso. I want them to have the full Italian experience.”
Not only does she teach cooking classes, she also has written two cookbooks –Italian Cooking Party and The Easy Italian Cookbook–and has led over 10 trips to Italy.
“I take small groups of Nashvillians, and we go to Italy and cook with local cooks and do wine tours,” she says. Activities on her trips can include excursions, such as a visit to a seafood market in Venice or a farm on an Italian island, allowing them to experience the styles of different chefs.
When she’s not cooking up a storm, Licitra loves to paint and create art. She and her husband also perform as a musical duo called Duette, performing around town and at senior living complexes through the organization Music for Seniors.
“We’re here, really, to dine, have wine, and...have the full Italian experience.”