Community Spotlight: Pastable

What they do:
Founded by Chef Leonardo Palazzo, who, after many years teaching classes at Eataly, wanted to bring his passion for and knowledge of cooking to “the next generation of culinary enthusiasts” with his non-profit Pastable. Palazzo maintains that good cooking doesn’t have to be difficult, and healthy eating does not have to be flavorless. He challenges those notions through Pastable, which focuses on teaching children how to cook easy and delicious healthy meals.

The mission of the Pastable team is multifaceted. Their central aim is to teach kids new recipes, cooking skills, and how to eat healthier. And they believe that comprehensive food education is a crucial step toward addressing diet-related health disparities. By partnering with schools, they are able to create a complete cooking classroom experience where children learn useful techniques and new recipes that build their confidence and creativity while also developing a better understanding of where their food comes from. 

How They Do It:
Chef Leo believes that kitchens are among the most important classrooms. Schools can reach out to Pastable if they are interested in highlighting nutrition education and practical skills for their students. The Pastable curriculum is typically nine classes with each class combining sensory play, cooking techniques, storytelling, and teamwork as kids cook a specific recipe together. They also offer workshops and abbreviated versions of the course to meet the needs of the school and children they work with. With Pastable, continuous engagement is the name of the game as they host multiple workshops with their partner schools throughout the year to ensure that the learning continues beyond a single lesson and children are able to build up their skills over time.  To ensure that all interested schools are able to participate in the program, Pastable provides everything they could possibly need, including fresh produce, recipes for the kids, and, of course, Chef Leo himself. After class, the kids get to eat their creations and also take recipes home to their parents so that the learning follows them out of the classroom.

Collaboration is necessary to fulfill Pastable’s mission, and so they partner with organizations like Edible Schoolyard NYC and Hamilton Madison House to fight for accessible nutrition education, share resources and ideas, and ensure that everyone’s efforts are more impactful.

Core Programs:
Each cooking class is centered around a particular set of goals and ingredients. There are multiple “from scratch” classes, where students learn how to make homemade pasta and pizza dough, highlighting the importance of grains and the science behind yeasted doughs. They also offer a mozzarella-making class, which highlights the intersection between cooking and science by teaching kids about transforming milk into cheese. There are also multiple lessons that focus on vegetables, including ways  to “hide” them within a delicious recipe such as Lasagna with Green Filling or Veggie Balls and Spaghetti. The comprehensive curriculum teaches kids an array of healthy new recipes in a way that is exciting and fun. The tactical and playful approach of Pastable keeps kids engaged and excited about nutrition education and the food system.

Fact Sheet
Areas served: 5 boroughs of NYC and NY metro area
Year started: 2025
Contact info: info@pastable.org