Born in San Francisco, Claudia De Domenico, a descendent of the family who started Golden Grain Macaroni Co. and later bought Ghirardelli Chocolate Co. grew up surrounded by her extended Italian family in the Bay Area.   Her passion for Italian cooking started as a child watching her Italian Grandmother at home in San Francisco making a feast – including pasta of course – for a crowd of family and friends.

After studying in Florence and Paris during college and graduating from U.C. Berkeley she went to work for the family business and created the Ghirardelli Gelateria in Ghirardelli Square in 1985.

She’s studied with many great Italian chefs; among them Marcella Hazan, Sergio Vivoli of the gelato family, and Viola Buitoni.

Her dream of sharing her Sonoma property and her passion for cooking has finally come true and she looks forward to having her guests experience her love of Sonoma and the bounty it has to offer.