Hassler, who grew up in the Valley, had a similar shift in thinking about food and how to eat it after studying abroad in the 90s.
“In America, life was all about go go go, but in France and Italy, your life is about dinner,” she believes. “What you will eat, who you will eat with, where you will eat, the conversation you have once you get there. That experience changed me.”
“I say it’s country French and American comfort food.”
Lauren Cusimano
A mostly self-taught chef, Hassler worked for a caterer in Italy, settling there and marrying. When she and her husband returned to Phoenix, she brought back memories of dining and cooking abroad.