As a child, Stella Lombardi-Chapin always dreamed of owning a restaurant of her own.

“I always watched my mother cook special dishes. I learned how to make pasta and bread. I knew that some day I wanted to open up a restaurant,” Chapin said.

More than 40 years later, Chapin and her nine siblings took on the task of cooking for the 3000 guests attending her daughter’s wedding.

Chapin and her husband Mike, now deceased, found a great location for their restaurant while driving home from the wedding.

The couple had recently returned from Italy and the houses they saw on High Street reminded them of Italian Villas.

After finding the house that suited them, Chapin and her husband performed all the necessary work that needed to be done in order to transform it into the restaurant of their dreams.

From then on they had a restaurant of their own, Casa di Pasta located on 2321 N. High St.

Chapin grinned as she exclaimed how hectic, but fun, her days are.

“Every morning I cook fresh pasta and sauces. Our meatballs and lasagnas are made on the premises. Regulars come here because most of our pastas are imported from Italy and they love our tomato sauce,” she said.

Many of her customers have said the entrees taste like home cooking.

“Maybe that’s because they are prepared in a real home kitchen,” Chapin

“The food at Casa Di Pasta does not taste like the everyday Italian restaurant food, it really tastes like true Italian home cooking,” said Marybeth Smith, a junior majoring in marketing.

Chapin learned the basic recipes from her mother and she also owns more than 100 Italian and American cook books.

Although by now, all the recipes she uses come directly from memory.

Even though the restaurant is called Casa di Pasta, don’t let the name be misleading.

Along with the house specialty, Cannelloni, the restaurant also serves chicken, steak, veal and snapper.

Chapin said that her favorite aspect of owning the restaurant is treating the customers as if they were guests in her own home.

She meets many professors, coaches, athletes, and students at her restaurant. “I get very close and acquainted with these people. It’s like a big family,” Chapin said.

In the 32 years Chapin has been involved with the restaurant various movie stars, religious people and transits have also stopped by for a visit and a bite.

Located in the downstairs section of the restaurant there is a celebrity wall with over 100 autographs and pictures.

Besides owning the restaurant, she has other hobbies. “Buckeye Football is my passion,” Chapin said.

She is also a Eucharist minister at Riverside and University Hospital.

As for the future, Chapin realizes that one day she will have to say good-bye to Casa di Pasta. “What I will miss is the business, the hustle and bustle, and most of all, the people,” she said.

The energetic 77-year-old has made many wonderful memories throughout her years owning Casa di Pasta.

After all these years, Chapin still arrives each morning with a smile to prepare the food, serve customers, and is always keeping everything in order.

“The older I get, the more it grows on me. It’s hard to know I will have to let go. I love what I’m doing. It is very rewarding, and refreshing. I have been very blessed to be in this university area and meet all different walks of life,” Chapin said.