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| Bella Cucina: Artful Food by Kim Urquhart The beautifully packaged jars of juicy olives and preserved fruit that line the shelves of Bella Cucina Artful Food look good enough to eat. And chef and owner Alisa Barry encourages doing just that. “Presentation is what we pride ourselves on,” she says. “It is pretty, but it’s just food!” Barry has poured her passion for all things Italian into her award-winning specialty food business, which carries more than 50 pantry products ranging from pasta and pestos to kitchen accessories. She described Bella Cucina as “a sensual experience. The packaging is beautiful, then you open the jar and the quality of the product is consistent.” Nearly everything is made by hand in small batches using the freshest farm-grown produce in the company’s offices in Midtown. In a few months, its manufacturing operations will move to a much larger 50,000-square-foot facility in East Point. But Barry’s plans for the Bella Cucina retail store, which opened last July, are just taking shape. Barry said the store serves a dual purpose: to show retailers how to incorporate the Bella Cucina line into their own merchandise; and to educate customers on how Bella Cucina’s pantry items can complement home-cooked meals. Bella Cucina’s “artful” food and unique gifts have been appealing to the appetites of retailers across the country. Whole Foods, Crate & Barrel and Saks Fifth Avenue are just a few of the national chains that have eaten up the gourmet products. Hip specialty retailer Anthropologie recently signed Bella Cucina as its first food line supplier, and the company’s food gifts have been featured in Food & Wine and O, The Oprah Magazine. Customers will find everything they need to create a meal – right down to the dishes – at Bella Cucina. In a world of fast food, Barry’s practice of using high-quality, all-natural ingredients stems from her belief “not to compromise how you eat just because you’re busy.” A recipe on the bottom of each hand-labeled jar, and an elegant cookbook Barry wrote on location in Tuscany, can help. A few examples: Try one of Bella Cucina’s nine flavors of pesto to glaze a chicken breast or toss with pasta. Use the Organic Passato al Pomodoro as a base for soups or as a quick pasta sauce with fresh basil and garlic. Drop a preserved orange into a glass of Sangria or layer with fruit for a tasty tart topping. Sales of Bella Cucina’s personalized gift baskets soar during the holidays, and its handmade olive oil soap and Dolci dessert collection make popular presents. With items ranging from under $20 to over $200, “we have great price points for everybody,” Barry says. Though she has made several visits to the Italian countryside, Barry is Italian only in spirit. She said it is the Italians’ love of simple, fresh food that characterizes her cooking and inspires her products. The first incarnation of Bella Cucina was as a small café on Bennett Street where Barry’s homemade pesto and paninis won her a loyal following. In the future, she plans to offer those same sandwiches at her Peachtree Street store, where she envisions café tables spilling out onto the sidewalk. In the meantime, she wants to introduce Bella Cucina – as a retail store – to the community. “A lot of people don’t know [Bella Cucina products] are made here in Atlanta,” she says. Perhaps it is partly due to the fact that while the storefront stands proudly on Peachtree Street – across from Emory Crawford Long Hospital – many Atlantans don’t venture much farther south than the Fox Theater. Barry invites Atlantans to visit Bella Cucina to taste the daily samples, purchase artful gifts, or simply browse. She plans to host educational events and food and wine tastings in the beautifully decorated, European-style store. Bella Cucina also can be found around town participating in seasonal events like the Saturday Green Market in Piedmont Park. Growth, including the addition of Internet sales, has bred change. Barry has brought in a general manager to free her to focus on product development. “My goal was to get out of day-to-day operations, and get out and do cooking classes and [things of that nature],” she explains. Bella Cucina has been “a great outlet for personal expression,” Barry says. “That is the primary reason why I started and that is why I continue.” And for the more than 3,000 customers across the U.S. hooked on her homemade creations, that is good news. Bella Cucina Artful Food is located 497 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 100. Their phone number is (404) 872-4553. Or visit them at www.bellacucinaartfulfood.com. |
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| From top: Assorted authentic goodies from Bella Cucina. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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