We recently connected with Rossella Rago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Rossella thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
I always say the story behind my mission really begins with my childhood in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. My parents had emigrated from Puglia in southern Italy and settled in Bensonhurst, so I was born into a community filled with Italian immigrants and their families. In fact, when I was growing up, Bensonhurst was about 90% Italian American . That meant I was immersed in Italian ingredients, traditions, and culture from day one. Some of my earliest memories are of standing on a stool in my Nonna’s kitchen, stirring a pot of simmering tomato sauce on Sunday, or walking down the block with my mom to the local salumeria to pick up fresh mozzarella and olives. I grew up surrounded by the aromas of espresso on the stove, the sound of Italian being spoken around our dinner table, and the feeling that food and family were at the center of everything. Looking back now, I realize how fortunate I was to be so steeped in our heritage from the very beginning.
As I got older, I came to appreciate that not everyone had this kind of upbringing, especially once I started sharing our family recipes beyond Brooklyn. I quickly discovered that many of the ingredients and products I took for granted were actually hard to find if you didn’t live near a big Italian neighborhood like mine. Some of the specialty pastas, cheeses, or even a particular brand of tomatoes we used – outside places like Bensonhurst or Little Italy, people simply couldn’t get them. This really struck me. I remember thinking: How can someone recreate Nonna’s dishes if they can’t find the right ingredients? That question lit a fire in me. I wanted to bridge that gap. So originally, my goal with La Bottega della Nonna was just to provide those hard-to-find Italian ingredients to people no matter where they lived. I started the shop with my family as a small online store offering the essentials – the same authentic San Marzano tomatoes, olive oils, pastas, and other staples that I grew up with. It came out of a simple idea: if you can’t come to Bensonhurst, we’ll bring a little bit of Bensonhurst to you . I’m proud to say that’s how our mission was born – out of the desire to make sure everyone could access the flavors of Italy that nourished me throughout my life.
Over time, that simple idea blossomed into something much bigger. What began as a modest selection of pantry staples has expanded into a much larger catalog  of all things Italian and Italian American. As word spread and more people found us, we kept adding products that our customers were asking for – and honestly, products that meant a lot to me personally. These days, La Bottega della Nonna offers not just ingredients for cooking, but a whole range of imports from Italy and nostalgic Italian-American novelties. We have thousands of products now, from artisanal regional olive oils and aged balsamic vinegars to handmade Italian ceramics and linens. We’ve added Apparel and accessories – for example, we carry T-shirts and aprons with funny Nonna sayings, and beautiful dresses inspired by the styles back in the old country. We offer kitchenware and housewares like the traditional wooden Nonna spoons and even jewelry with Italian charms. It turns out people were hungry not only for the taste of Italy, but for anything that lets them celebrate their heritage. So we’ve happily grown to meet that need – if it brings a bit of la dolce vita into your home, we want to offer it. Looking around our shop now, it’s incredible: you can find everything from a deluxe pasta maker to a Sicilian-inspired handbag. We’ve essentially become a one-stop-shop for celebrating Italian culture, and I love that. Every new item we add is another way for someone out there to connect with their roots or share our culture with others.
But at its heart, my mission has never been just about selling products – it’s about helping people feel connected to their heritage through food and tradition. I always think about the emotional side of these experiences. Food and family traditions carry so much meaning. When someone buys something from us, it’s not just an item; it’s a little piece of Italy, a little piece of their own family history, that they’re welcoming into their life. We really try to curate items that help create special moments, the kind that stay with you forever. For example, we make sure to stock the classic holiday treats and treasures that mean so much in our culture. At Christmastime, we import panettone, that sweet holiday bread, so even if you’re living in a place with no Italian bakery for miles, you can still share a slice of panettone with your family on Christmas morning and feel that nostalgia. We also carry delicate glass Christmas ornaments that say Buon Natale – some are hand-painted in Italy – because hanging one on your tree can make you feel like you’re back in Nonna’s living room, surrounded by love and tradition. And every Easter, we bring in the giant Italian chocolate eggs – the ones with surprise toys inside – because I remember how magical it was when my Nonna would give me one of those eggs each spring. I want other children (and let’s be honest, adults too!) to experience that same joy of cracking open a big chocolate egg on Easter morning . It’s these little things – a taste, a smell, a holiday ritual – that instantly transport you to a place of belonging. My hope is that through the products and traditions we share, people feel that warm embrace of heritage no matter where they are. If someone in, say, a small town in the Midwest can light up at Christmas because they found the same ornament their grandparents used to have, or they can carry on a tradition like baking cookies with their kids using ingredients their great-grandparents would recognize – that means we’ve done our job. That connection across generations and geography is exactly what Bottega della Nonna is about.
Another beautiful part of this journey is that it’s truly a family business. I run Bottega della Nonna with my family – we’re a small tight-knit team, and every one of us pours our heart into it. I’m so lucky to work alongside my loved ones every day. My mom, for instance, is deeply involved, and of course my grandmother – my Nonna Romana – has been an endless source of inspiration. In fact, one of my proudest accomplishments was launching our very own line of baked goods, which we named “I Dolci della Nonna” – it means “Grandma’s sweets” in Italian. We created this line as a tribute to my Nonna Romana, the matriarch of our family, who is truly the heart and soul of so many of our recipes and traditions. With I Dolci della Nonna, we’re baking up the classic Italian-American desserts that generations of Nonnas have made for their families – things like pignoli cookies, biscotti, struffoli, and crumb cakes – and we’re making them available to everyone. We bake these treats in a top bakery in Brooklyn  (using our family recipes and Nonna’s guidance, of course) and ship them fresh to your door. The idea is that you can taste a bit of Nonna’s love even if you’re hundreds of miles away. When we first offered these sweets, I was overjoyed by the response – people would tell me, “I haven’t had cookies like this since my grandmother used to bake!” That kind of feedback is everything to me. It feels like we’re honoring not just my Nonna but all our grandmothers, by keeping their traditions alive in a very tangible (and delicious) way. Through this family-inspired line, Nonna Romana’s legacy reaches kitchens all across the country, and I think she’s very proud of that – I know I am.
Ultimately, the mission behind Bottega della Nonna comes down to family, heritage, and creating a sense of home for people, no matter where life finds them. It’s about breaking down the barriers of distance and time. We want you to be able to carry on your grandmother’s traditions or start new ones with your own kids, even if your family is scattered around the world. I often say that we’re not just selling pasta or cookies or ornaments – we’re delivering memories and comfort. Every product in our store has a story or a memory attached to it, whether it’s a childhood Sunday dinner, a festive Christmas Eve, or an affectionate joke about how “Nonna’s in charge of the kitchen.” My hope is that when someone opens a package from La Bottega della Nonna, they feel a rush of warmth and nostalgia – almost as if they’ve just gotten a hug from their own Nonna. If I can help people feel that sense of belonging and keep those beautiful Italian traditions thriving, then I know I’ve fulfilled my mission. That’s the why behind everything I do. At the end of the day, it’s all for la famiglia – sharing the love, joy, and comfort I was lucky to grow up with, and making sure that no matter where you are, you can always taste and treasure a piece of home.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
For those who may not have met me yet, my name is Rossella Rago, and I’m a cookbook author, television host, culinary influencer, and the founder of www.bottegadellanonna.com, which I proudly run with my family.
I was born and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, a neighborhood that was once a true enclave of Italian American life. Growing up surrounded by the flavors, traditions, and stories of southern Italy, I developed a deep love and respect for the culture my family brought with them from our ancestral village of Mola di Bari, Puglia. From an early age, I learned to cook alongside my grandmother, Nonna Romana, and as I got older, I realized how important it was to preserve and celebrate these traditions — not just within my family, but for the next generation of Italian Americans and for anyone who shares a love of authentic Italian food and culture.
My career started with a passion project called Cooking with Nonna, where I traveled around the United States and Italy to film and share beloved family recipes with grandmothers from all different regions. Over time, it grew into bestselling cookbooks, national television appearances, live culinary tours, and a vibrant online community. Throughout this journey, it became very clear to me that many people, especially those living outside traditional Italian American neighborhoods, struggled to find the authentic ingredients and specialty items they needed to recreate the recipes and traditions they cherished.
That’s where La Bottega della Nonna was born: to solve that problem by bringing a curated selection of high-quality, often hard-to-find Italian imports directly to people’s doorsteps. What began as a small shop offering essentials — artisanal pastas, olive oils, tomato products — has now expanded into a full catalog of Italian food, hand-painted ceramics, holiday ornaments, chocolate Easter eggs, clothing, accessories, housewares, and even our own signature line of traditional baked goods, I Dolci della Nonna, inspired by my grandmother.
What sets us apart is the heart behind everything we offer.
La Bottega della Nonna isn’t just an e-commerce shop; it’s a love letter to heritage, tradition, and family. Every product is selected with care and authenticity in mind, and everything we do is grounded in our mission to help people stay connected to their roots — or to discover the magic of Italian culture for the first time. Our shop is about creating experiences as much as it is about selling products: it’s about that moment when someone opens a package and feels transported back to their Nonna’s kitchen, or when a new generation gets to experience the taste of a real Sicilian cannolo or a slice of homemade panettone for the first time.
I’m most proud of the fact that we’ve created a community, not just a business.
Through our storytelling, recipes, products, and events, we’ve helped countless people rediscover traditions, honor their families, and create new memories with their loved ones. It’s deeply moving to hear from customers who tell me that our shop made it possible for them to carry on a holiday ritual, surprise an elderly family member with a taste from their homeland, or feel a little less homesick during special occasions.
The main thing I want people to know is that this work comes from a place of genuine love and respect for my culture, my family, and the beautiful legacy handed down to me.
Every recipe I share, every product we source, and every story we tell is meant to honor the incredible women like my Nonna who kept these traditions alive through difficult times. I want our customers and followers to feel that warmth and authenticity — and to know that when they support La Bottega della Nonna, they are helping to preserve a beautiful, centuries-old way of life that is still very much alive today.
Whether you come to us for the perfect extra-virgin olive oil, a hand-painted Christmas ornament, a traditional Easter chocolate egg, or just a slice of nostalgic joy, my goal is always the same: to deliver a little bit of Italy, a lot of love, and a taste of home.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Well, he’s actually been there since the very beginning — because my co-founder is my dad, Vito.
Before we started La Bottega della Nonna together, my dad had a long career in telecommunications. But once we launched the business, he completely immersed himself in it — he eats, sleeps, and breathes Bottega della Nonna every single day. While I focus more on the marketing, branding, and creative side of things, he handles the operations and logistics that keep everything running behind the scenes.
Working with family isn’t always easy — I’m not going to sugarcoat it. We pretty much “fire” each other every other week! But at the end of the day, no one will ever work with you — or for you — the way your family does. There’s a level of loyalty, grit, and heart that you simply can’t hire. And despite the inevitable challenges, we always find our way back to center because we’re stuck with each other — and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Over the years, Vito has also become something of a social media star in his own right. Our customers and audience have built such a visceral, emotional connection to my Italian American family — especially to my dad. It’s amazing for our brand recognition, but even more so, it builds trust. People know that we’re real — that when they order from us, it’s not a faceless company. It’s us, packing and shipping every order with care.
When my father was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, our customers rallied around him with an outpouring of love and prayers. Now that he’s thankfully in remission, it means the world to us — and I think it means a lot to our community too, because they truly feel like they’re part of our extended family. I can’t tell you how many times someone calls the office and asks, “Is this really Vito? I love you!” — and he gets such a kick out of it every single time.
In the end, I feel incredibly lucky. Not only do I get to build something meaningful that connects people to their heritage, but I get to do it with the people who built me.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
One of the moments that truly tested my resilience — both personally and professionally — happened in early 2024, when my father, Vito, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
It was a tremendous shock for our family. But it was also absolutely terrifying from a business perspective. My father is such an integral part of La Bottega della Nonna — he manages so much of our day-to-day operations — and suddenly, the foundation we had built together felt very uncertain. I honestly wasn’t sure how we were going to make it through.
There’s no playbook for something like that. I felt completely unprepared, but at the same time, there was no choice but to dig in. I found myself stepping back into roles and responsibilities I hadn’t handled since we first started the business — answering customer emails, processing orders, managing logistics — whatever it took to keep the wheels turning. Meanwhile, my dad, in true Vito fashion, was still trying to work from his hospital bed, answering calls and giving me instructions in between treatments. It was heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.
During those months when he was recovering from surgery, we experienced a noticeable dip in business. It was disheartening, and there were moments when doubt crept in. Would we survive this? Was this the end of what we had built together?
But we persisted. We showed up every day, even when we were exhausted, scared, and stretched thin. We leaned on the incredible community we had spent years building, and little by little, we kept things afloat.
Looking back, that season taught me more than I ever could have learned from smooth sailing. It was a crash course in leadership, adaptability, and balance. More importantly, it reaffirmed something I had always believed: when you build something with love, resilience isn’t a choice — it’s just part of who you are.
I’m proud to say that today, my father is in remission, and La Bottega della Nonna is stronger than ever — not because everything went perfectly, but because we refused to give up on each other.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bottegadellanonna.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bottegadellanonnastore/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/rossellascookingwithnonna/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossellarago
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/cookingwithnonna
