Kiki Aranita '11 and Chris Vacca both studied the classics at Bryn Mawr as graduate students and they're also co-owners of the Hawaiian-fusion food truck Poi Dog Snack Shop.
But for their latest endeavor, the pair has partnered with Melanie Subacus, now a classics professor at Villanova and Temple, to mine the writings of Cato, Apicius, and Pliny the Elder for ancient recipes and host cooking classes on Ancient Roman fare. As Aranita and Vacca prepare and instruct their students on how to cook up the dishes, Subacus details the recipe history and the influence that the Roman Empire had on cooking.
Their class at COOK, Philadelphia's demonstration kitchen, has been covered by The Philadelphia Inquirer and Travel and Leisure. They're hosting another class at the Free Library of Philadelphia Culinary Center in June, with more information being released on their Facebook page.