The sound of rhythmic chopping accompanied Jen Saffron of Sprezzatura’s words while we spoke. “I had always wanted to cook for people,” she remembered, while chopping meat for a beef escarole. “My background isn’t in the culinary arts, it’s in arts and education. I love hospitality, though. From growing up in a big, Italian family I was always inspired by the feasting, the meals, the traditions…”
A neighbor that Saffron had hosted at her home on the North Side encouraged her to cook professionally. Saffron then realized that cooking was what she really loved to do, and got to work starting her own business.
Jen Saffron Gets It Done at Sprezzatura
Saffron participated in a business incubator in Millvale and then started Sprezzatura in 2016 as a catering company. The Italian word “sprezzatura” means “studied nonchalance” or “effortless grace,” like a styled messy bun that makes you look like you woke up like that, and the elegance is simply natural. Saffron takes that philosophy into her kitchen. “We’re heritage cooks and we’re all woman-owned and operated,” she said. “You’re not gonna see a lot of dudes in white chef uniforms.” She and her staff do everything together, from workshopping menu items to going on “food field trips” to different places. They recently tried nearby Steel City Salt in Millvale as a team to see which salts they could incorporate into their kitchen. (There Saffron discovered an “espresso salt” to use in biscotti or other desserts).
It’s a testament to Sprezzatura’s quality that it’s grown from a catering company into a café that then withstood both the COVID-19 pandemic and its building burning down in Millvale in 2021. Saffron, with that effortless grace, simply started selling food at the Saturday Bloomfield Farmers Market to supplement the lack of physical space and looked for the next thing. She and her team now work in the kitchen of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, where they both cater to customers and serve meals to the students.
Sprezzatura Keeps Its Focus on “Mutual Aid and Taking Care of One Another.”
“The Seminary wrote to me last year and said ‘we have this kitchen that’s in need of some love,’” Saffron said. They told her she could run her business out of the kitchen if she also oversaw the lunch program at the Seminary. She now works alongside the Pittsburgh Pie Guy and pastry chef Benjamin Bishop to provide quality meals on campus. Going back to her roots as an artist, she thinks of it almost like a residency for Sprezzatura. “It’s mutual aid and taking care of one another. People are used to this fried, corporate campus food, and we get to provide them with healthy meals.”
Her customers can still come to the new kitchen space and pick up their food. One of the highlights of Sprezzatura’s services is their “soupscription,” an eight-week program where every week, you get a new soup. Though the fall has already started, she’ll be open for it again in January for the winter lineup. “I love making soup,” Saffron said. “I love all the varietals, the way you have to coax flavor out of it. It’s so rewarding to put the finishing touches on it like lemon zest and cheese. It’s healthy, it’s portable. And it makes people feel good.” For the Seminary students she’s cooking for, she’s still in the pilot phase of menu development. But she and her kitchen-mates are serving Sprezzatura’s signature roasted vegetable lasagna, chickpea butternut squash curry, and Italian sandwiches—a for sure step up from ordinary campus food.
A Sense of Belonging
“I really like the idea of slowing down and taking the time to make things. It makes a difference to the quality of food. You have to think about how a dish will make someone feel after eating, which a lot of people don’t take into consideration,” Saffron explained. “Growing up eating healthy, fresh Italian food made a huge difference for me in both my health and in having a feeling of belonging.”
Along with being in the kitchen, Saffron enjoys doing catering for events, particularly for arts organizations. I first had Sprezzatura’s food at Silver Eye Center for Photography’s Radial Survey benefit gala in 2023. That charcuterie board was a work of art in itself. Doing charcuterie plates is where her artistic side comes out. “A lot of us on my team have a background in the arts, and that shows up in our platters. But it also shows up in the way we problem-solve and persevere. Artists think on their feet,” she said.
Sprezzatura is gearing up for the holiday season, where they’ll be hosting Italian baking workshops and cheese classes to help everyone feel that sense of belonging Saffron feels from Italian traditions over the holidays. Though Sprezzatura has changed over the year, that core belief in quality and a sense of commuity through food has remained. As Saffron puts it, “Our goal is always healthy, affordable, accessible locally produced food.”
Story by Emma Riva / Photos courtesy of Jen Saffron
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