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Spouses Joe and Emilia Sparatta, formerly of Heritage restaurant, have launched Heritage Pasta Co.
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Fresh-made gemelli pasta
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Conchiglie pasta from Heritage Pasta Co.
After 25 years in restaurants, chef Joe Sparatta makes it clear that he has no plans to open another. His career has spanned multiple states and ownership of a pair of eateries, alongside a hard-fought journey to sobriety and raising two young children with his spouse. So how does he stay in an industry that nearly consumed him without going back to the life he left? Pull a pasta extruder out of storage and start making fresh noodles.
This month, Sparatta and wife Emilia have launched Heritage Pasta Co., stocking 1-pound packages of fresh pasta at local grocers including Belmont Butchery, Bon Air Seafood, Tuckahoe Seafood, Supper Club, Center Street Market in Ashland and Good Foods Grocery, with more on the way.
Pasta from Heritage Pasta Co.
While Sparatta still cooks at private events, he’s no longer bound by the daily demands of a restaurant kitchen. This new venture is his way of existing in the space, he says, interacting with people he’s worked with for decades and, most importantly, continuing to use his hands.
“I want to make a product that people might trust or already believe in a little bit,” he says.
Almost two years ago, Sparatta and business partner Lee Gregory (also chef and owner at Alewife) closed their Bon Air restaurant, Southbound, a decision they say felt forced after the rent on the popular neighborhood space was set to increase by 60%. In October 2025, the Sparattas closed the doors at Heritage and sold the building after 13 years of seasonal cooking steered by local farmers.
Of the exit and new beginning, Sparatta says, “I didn’t want to continue to keep missing things. When you spend your entire life in hospitality, making other people happy, and you’re not really happy, it becomes a dangerous path. You’re not really caring for yourself. That’s a hard thing to do for a really long time. I’m trying to find some balance, so maybe this will provide some.”
With an unused pasta extruder from his shuttered restaurant, he felt called to break out the flour and put it to work. Last month, he began making pasta and gifting it to friends and family, and what started as a casual way to put on an apron and feed people again has evolved into his next chapter.
The next goal: Land more restaurant accounts and become a local substitute for boxed pasta.
“After serving it for 13 years in the city, there’s a little bit of built-in brand awareness that helps, I think, and we’re trying to get into restaurants as well as doing wholesale,” Sparatta says.
His first time making pasta dates back to his early cheffing days at The Ryland Inn in New Jersey, where he also met his wife, and throughout his career he’s also used high-quality boxed varieties, meticulously discovering the complexities of noodles along the way.
“Making everything by hand is such a magical experience and the difference in seeing how fresh pasta is in comparison to dried box pasta,” Sparatta says. “The intricacy of it is really enjoyable.”
Pasta has been a through line at Sparatta’s restaurants, with a fresh-made option nearly guaranteed to be on the menu. Currently, Heritage Pasta Co. is offering gemelli, a twisted, S-shaped noodle that clings to sauces and was a signature at Heritage; rigatoni, a ridged classic that holds onto hearty gravy; and orecchiette, the thumb-pressed pasta from Puglia and designed to cup. While he’s starting slowly, he says, future pastas may include creste di gallo (with a ridged edge like a rooster’s comb), fusilli, elbow macaroni, radiatori, cavatelli, spaghetti and more.
“As long as people are buying the pasta, next we’ll be pairing it with sauce, and some of the retailers have already asked about it. That’s going to be part of our plan, and I believe we can get to that point,” he says.
Sparatta mentions a familiar and comforting red sauce like his mom’s, and a cheese sauce with the crave-worthiness of Velveeta mac and cheese, minus the long list of ingredients — a nod to the nostalgic offering on the menu at Southbound.
“Those are the things that my brain can start working on, trying to capture nostalgia or at least my own childhood memories, ... connect emotionally with people through food or bring them back to a place that they remember fondly,” he says. “I’m trying to do that again, just in a different aspect, which is interesting and challenging.”
With Heritage Pasta Co., it seems Sparatta has found a way to remain in the dining industry, in a way that feels right for him. One batch at a time.
“This has been great and meaningful to connect with people that dined with us and people we became friends with at the restaurant, and it has been nice getting to reconnect. I just needed some time for my brain to f---ing recover. I want to make people happy, just maybe on my own terms.”
