By Dylan Dias
Think about the most beautiful food memories you have. The tastes, the textures, and the aromas that sit closest to your heart. Where does it take you? Sometimes, I imagine, it’s to a place quite extraordinary – a gorgeous menu at a fantastic restaurant and an artful collection of dishes. Composed, curated, and perfected. But other times, perhaps more often than not, it’s to a place that feels like home. Crafted, imbued, and loved by the people that have nurtured us and the foundations that have carried us – threaded together by the simple ingredients, old recipes, and warm moments we’ve shared cooking, eating, laughing, and growing together. Food, in a way, is so much more than nourishment, flavour, and finesse. It’s a compendium, a gateway, into complexities of history, land, culture, and the legacies of people themselves – you included. Because we all have somewhere to go, and someone to be, from the stories that have come before. Not too long ago, our editorial team was given the unique opportunity to spend the day experiencing a glimpse into what that sensibility truly means.
Daniela Sfara is an accomplished private chef, educator, ambassador, and international authority on the heritage, technique, nuance, and depth of Italian food and culture – much of which exists and reverberates through generational hands like hers. A teacher, artist, storyteller, and entrepreneur, Daniela has built more than a career and a voice through the deep, treasured roots of the Italy she knows and loves – she has built an entire ethos. A method and spirit of being, of honouring land, regionality, and tradition – not just the art of cooking itself – though, in truth, one often begets the other. Food is life, after all. On a brisk, wintery Sunday, myself, alongside our Editor-in-Chief and our European Editor – Amy and Thomas – met Daniela at her charming home in Cambridge to talk food, travel, Italy, and all the beauty we dream about therein.
It’s not a concept; it’s an actuality of life. I don’t want to impact 12 people at a time, I want to impact 100,000 people at a time.
— DANIELA SFARA
Delicate Prosecco on the palette, in the glow of a warm and vibrant kitchen, we reminisced. Daniela’s home feels like an extension of her craft, which in turn, is an extension of her heart – rich with distinctive touches of antiquity. Old-world prints and frames, candleholders and keepsakes, crystal glassware, and photos of her mother and grandmother – the pillars of Daniela’s relationship to food and home – are lovingly displayed as gems would be.
“My first lesson in cooking was beside my mother in her kitchen – listening, watching, and learning everything I could. Then, from my grandmother in Italy.”
In a moment – the sound of crisped focaccia, freshly baked and freckled in sea salt, being gently cut. The clink of vintage dishware used to softly toss grilled eggplant and fresh herbs, as well as glistening olives, minced garlic, and dried oregano from the fields of Calabria – both in the chartreuse cast of good olive oil. And warmed ‘nduja, one of my favourite accompaniments in the world, a fermented, spicy, spreadable salume – savoury and decadent – alongside 38-month-old aged Parmigiano Reggiano, dried peperoncino, mortadella, and a duo of fragrant marmellate. Maybe the antipasti of my dreams; maybe just another Sunday in Daniela’s home.
Born in Toronto and having grown up between Canada and southern Italy, Daniela’s roots are deeply interwoven with the lands of her ancestry. Regions, typographies, and produce of origin that are defined by the artisans, farmers, winemakers, and families that nurture them. What may at first appear as a reverence for time-honoured cooking becomes so much more – it becomes a preservation, an archival tapestry, of culture and life. It’s this colour and sentiment that hold true to what an expert like Daniela brings to the table – pun intended. It’s a window into a lesser-known Italy that unravels at the seams of glossy media and invites you into the warm soil beneath. It’s ancient farmland and family kitchens. It’s a truer understanding of terroir and the seasonal harvest of a specific time and place. It’s the purity of simple, repeating ingredients that are wholly themselves (as we ought to be) and it’s generations of connection to rudimentary techniques and tools – being mindful of the reasons for why beautiful dishes are made the way they are, not just how they’re made.
“What I bring to the table is not what you find in restaurants.”
Under the umbrella of her Home Trattoria, and as a global culinary educator, Daniela offers her guests and students an immersive glimpse into her Italy – authentic, rural dishes, the affinity between where ingredients come from and how to honour them, and cooking at a level that relies on trust, intuition, and purpose. Not just recipe books and measurements – but heart, tradition, and soul – like nonna did. A version of agriturismo, but through a deeper lens touched by honoured lands and distilled into an experience that reaches much further. A concept Daniela also travels with – into private kitchens, events, and prolific culinary institutions – where she curates luxury dining events and food experiences, teaches masterclasses, and helps to design menus.
In the end, food connects us all. And it’s through people like Daniela – people that can craft, hone, and express how beautiful that connection is, that we can begin to understand where we are going from where we have been.
— DYLAN DIAS
As we laughed, joked, and drank together, Daniela’s hands effortlessly danced on her countertop, creating a well of flour and semolina for her eggs, that she would carefully gather and knead into a beautiful, golden pasta dough. In almost no time at all, this would become fresh tagliatelle – gently cooked and then coddled in the cozy, earthen flavours of a lamb and boar ragù – deep red ochre, satiating, gorgeous, and full of love. Why date at all when you can just eat incredible pasta? When I’m lucky enough to enjoy it, the world reminds me of this.
“On Sundays, we make pasta.”
Italian food at this level is a living ornament of time. It’s from the open doors and full kitchens of friends and neighbours. It’s from distinctive terroir, coastal landscapes, and the purity of their bounty – without drastically altering them – and carrying those heirlooms of knowledge into the future. For the sake of culture and heritage, but for the sake of people too. Something that has taken a consummate artist of Daniela’s calibre around the world – most recently to Dubai – to impart a true glimmer of Italy.
“It’s not a concept; it’s an actuality of life. I don’t want to impact 12 people at a time, I want to impact 100,000 people at a time.”
Beautifully-roasted rabbit – golden brown, juicy, and moreish – paired alongside a bright and verdant fennel citrus salad with blood orange, red onion, celery, and olives rounded out a beautiful dinner at Daniela’s welcoming table. And to end – perfection in tiramisù. Blissful, cloud-like mascarpone, dark and rich caffè to lightly soak savoiardi, and just a breath of cocoa to dust. Layered treasure enjoyed with full smiles. In our Editor-in-Chief’s own words – “the best I’ve ever had.”
Most recently honoured by the CIBPA (Canadian Italian Business Professionals Association) as a 2025 Women in Leadership Champion, Daniela Sfara continues to build bridges that unify cultural disparities, uphold the heritage of authentic Italian food and its people, and share the essence of why that matters. Aside from an abundance of continued collaborations through various media and artisanal brands – as a social, cultural, and influential voice that represents the best of Italy – Daniela’s passionate work and profound insight can be found through her website, her podcast (Italy at Home), an upcoming cookbook that will undoubtedly enamour us, as well right here at VeraVita Magazine as a contributing writer to our talented, growing team.
In the end, food connects us all. And it’s through people like Daniela – people that can craft, hone, and express how beautiful that connection is, that we can begin to understand where we are going from where we have been. Like a crowded table full of drinks, empty plates, laughter, and friends – let’s go together. – VV
