MODA: Like Mother, Like Daughter.

As far back as I can remember, people always told me I reminded them of my mom . As a young girl, I didn't realize the power of her influence and inspiration, but it made me the woman I am today. The phrase "Like mother, like daughter" could not be more fitting. I was born in the 80s while my parents were students at LSU. My sister and I were raised with French-Italian, Catholic values, and my parents worked hard to make a future for us. Every evening after a long day of class and work, my mother cooked dinner in our tiny apartment. To save money, she often cooked breakfast for dinner. The smell of biscuits and gravy still linger in my memory. In our family, the kitchen is where we made new memories and shared old ones, because the food brought us together. I grew up during a time when famous chefs were exploding on cable television. If we weren't cooking together, we were watching shows about cooking. Taking this passion and turning it into a career wasn’t ever done in my family, but for the first time, I felt I had found my calling.

As time passed, the idea of cooking as a vocation caramelized in my thoughts, and it wasn't until a year before I graduated from LSU in Mass Communications that I landed my first kitchen job. The fast-pace, structure, and satisfaction at the end of service whisked me away, and I loved every minute of it. I was destined to pursue culinary greatness.

After 3 years of culinary and pastry training in Charleston, New Orleans, and Baton Rouge, I landed my third kitchen job at La Louisiane Bakery, where I worked for over a decade. Love and perseverance were the main ingredients in my years there. I worked from the bottom of the mixing bowl to the top of the bakery, eventually becoming kitchen manager, marketing director, and wedding cake coordinator.

While working there, a passion project was born. In an effort to re-purpose cake scraps, I began making cake pops and created an Instagram account, @bitesizednola. Long days at the bakery were followed by nights in my home kitchen, where I combined different flavors and textures. It was my creative outlet, my therapy. I maintained the business, but it stayed on the back burner with little time to devote to building it. The stars aligned when I moved back to my hometown of Baton Rouge, met my husband, and changed my mindset in 2021. I knew it was time to take it to the next level and Moda Kitchen was born.

At Moda Kitchen, the focus is complexity on the inside, simplicity on the outside. What you get is more than what you see. The flavors and textures are so satisfying that when you take a bite, you can't help but close your eyes and be taken to your happy place. My desserts are happy and playful. They are tantalizing, slightly addicting, and memorable. But most of all, they are welcoming and nostalgic. Moda Kitchen is an homage to years spent with my mother and grandparents in the kitchen - building food memories or “Moda Moments” to last a lifetime.