Needham Community Education

Paul Malagrifa is a Certified Wine Educator who has been avidly pursuing his passion for wine for well over 20 years. A winemaking hobby begun in the 1980s spurred him to begin collecting and studying the wine making of others. Paul writes, teaches and lectures frequently on the topic of wine appreciation, and conducts regular wine education classes and seminars in the greater Boston area. His website, www.musingsonthevine.com, aims to share his passion about wine, strip away the mysteries surrounding wine, and provide a resource for those “who just want to be able to buy a decent wine to drink with dinner tonight.”

Rob Picardi grew up in an Italian family, and has always had a passion for authentic Italian cuisine. After attending the Culinary Institute of America, he worked his way up in Boston’s bustling restaurant scene, starting out as a line cook at Marco and Pigalle & Marco in Boston, working as a junior sous chef at Lineage, experiencing the high-intensity and upscale environment at Summer House on the island of Nantucket, and worked as head chef for 8 years at Prezza, one of Boston’s premier dining destinations located in the North End of Boston. During his time at Prezza, Chef Rob spent several months in Italy in an immersive work-training program, cooking in three different restaurants, where he learned the Italian way of cooking- using fresh ingredients, discovering local recipes, and incorporating cooking methods used by the great chefs of Italy. This further fueled his passion for creating authentic Italian cuisine by incorporating local ingredients when he returned to Boston. As head chef of Cappella, Chef Rob is now able to combine what he learned in Italy with his extensive experience in the states to produce authentic Italian cuisine and offer his guests an unforgettable culinary experience.