Pasta Packs Co-Founders Nic & Greg Bryon on Pandemic Dinner Parties, the Flour Your Pantry Needs and Cooking While Black

During the COVID-19 pandemic, while the rest of us were experimenting with sourdough starter, the Bryon brothers were eating like kings.With restaurants shuttered, Nic Bryon had been laid off from his job as sous chef of Tampa’s Oak & Ola. But the Johnson & Wales grad put his culinary skills to work at home, where he quarantined with his brother Greg and Greg’s young family. The food, wine and music flowed. But the money didn’t. So in April 2020, the brothers combined Nic’s cooking expertise with Greg’s business acumen to start Pasta Packs.Today Pasta Packs has a brick-and-mortar pickup location in South Tampa. In addition to selling ready-to-cook pastas and sauces, Pasta Packs offers classes, catering and in-home three-course dinners. Nic also teaches a free cooking class for kids called The Sauce, through University Area Community Development Corporation in Tampa.Greg and Nic recently chatted with me about the challenges they faced along the way, tips for making better pasta at home and the reaction they receive as two Black men cooking Italian food.Related episodes:Chef Niven Patel and Mohamed Alkassar Had a Productive PandemicHow to Prepare Restaurant-Quality Meals at Home: Advice from Chef Dennis LittleyOak & Ola Executive Chef Anne KearneyDocumentary Explores Tampa Bay’s Black-Owned Restaurants