A ‘Fresher’ Take on Pasta

Story By Wil Crews Photos Contributed By AU Pasta Di Fresca

AU Pasta Di Fresca is bringing quality, authentic Italian food to the Plains.

AU Pasta Di Fresca is an Italian specialty market, offering fresh pasta, sauces and dressings, lasagnas, salads, desserts and more. It is the brainchild and passion of Auburn local Kevin Lyons.

The idea for AU Pasta Di Fresca came from timing and opportunity. In 2015, Kevin and his wife, Janet, moved to Auburn as their kids began college at the university. The couple then began thinking about the next stage of life — retirement.

“As I started to get older, I’ve started to look to see what I am going to do next,” Kevin said. “I realized that golf wasn’t going to be one of my primary retirement activities. So, I wanted to be busy and just started to think maybe there was something I could do cooking.”

A little inspiration from the cooking channel and a few dinner parties with friends later, and the dream was beginning to take shape. “We met some friends in the neighborhood, learned from them and watched what they were doing.” Kevin said. “I love a good challenge; I love to learn new things, so I started cooking.”

With some practice, time and help from his family, Kevin refined his cooking craft and began to think about starting a business.

“We kind of saw that what I did well, what was kind of unique and what Auburn-Opelika really didn’t have was that Italian specialty market,” he said. “So, at that point it was just kind of like the light bulb went on.”

The business of AU Pasta Di Fresca is run entirely out of a commercial kitchen in the Lyons’ home garage.

“Originally, I thought it might be headed to a brick-andmortar store,” Kevin said. “But right now I’m still thinking in a few years everyone will be more and more accustomed to ordering food online, Instacart, etc. So, we are kind of trying to capitalize on that trend.”

Because the business is relatively new, and the due to the lack of a physical storefront, AU Pasta Di Fresca is trying to gain a bigger presence in the area.

“With the lack of the storefront, people can’t just browse

and see,” Kevin said.

One way it has gained attention is by participating in some of Auburn’s community markets.

“We did really well there,” Kevin said. “We mostly did it to kind of get our name out. Being virtual makes it a lot harder. We used that opportunity to tell people about the business, allow people to get to know what we are doing, try us out and it went really well.”

AU Pasta Di Fresca separates itself from the competition by the types of pasta it serves and its direct-to-door delivery method.

“A lot of the pasta you buy in store is water-flour, dried,” Kevin said. “[Our] pasta is all handmade. It’s imported Caputo flour coming from Italy. The best stuff I can find. It’s egg-based. With ours, we can go back to the more authentic approach: Roll it into a dough, let it rest, sheet it out and then cut it — that’s the fresh pasta.”

All of AU Pasta Di Fresca’s dishes use only the freshest authentic Italian ingredients.

“I’m really proud of the cheeses we have picked, the meats and tomatoes we are using … the olive oils and Balsamic, in particular,” Kevin said. “We are using some really good stuff.”

Some of its most popular prepared items include the fresh egg pasta, charcuterie boards, caprese salad and panna cotta with strawberries. The market also offers a variety of other pastas, including: spinach, red beet, whole wheat or squid ink. For the house-made sauces, try the traditional marinara, or get creative with pomodoro, Bolognese, alfredo, gorgonzola cream or roasted garlic cream.

“The sauces are probably the best thing we make based on customer feedback,” Kevin said. “The simplicity is really what makes it so good. Part of being unique is making fresh pasta, but we are doing some flavor stuff that you really can’t get here [before] at all.”

In addition to your traditional Italian dishes, AU Pasta Di Fresca sells extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegars, Caputo flours and San Marzano tomatoes. More fan favorites include the lasagna and the breadsticks.

AU Pasta Di Fresca currently takes orders Monday through Thursday, and delivers dishes and other goods Friday through Sunday, 4 to 6 p.m. The business also offers catering for group events.

According to Kevin, there could be plans for expansion one day; however, for now, he said he believes AU Pasta Di Fresca is already fulfilling a need in the Auburn and Lee County community.

“I’ve been talking to some places in town about finding a retail outlet that will carry some of the items,” he said. “But at heart, we are trying to be that Italian specialty market. We have not only the prepared items, but we have retailed packaged items, candies, etc. We are trying to bring in stuff that you can’t get at Kroger, Publix or other markets.”

For more information on AU Pasta Di Fresca, visit www. aupastafresca.com/.

Just a few of the different types of fresh pasta made at AU Pasta di Fresca.