b'Matt Ruzga, Porta Rossa160 Jacoby Street, MaplewoodIG: (@porta_rossa_nj); portarossanj.comWhen Matt Ruzga found himself making fresh fettuccine in his kitchen dur-ing COVID, he was closer to opening his own business than he realized.He was already a highly respected chef at some of Manhattans finest restau-rants. He loved the simplicity of making pasta. He had been working in kitchens since he was 14. He never had the idea to go out on his own.With time on his hands, relegat-ed to developing recipes at home, he got bored. He cooked for his family, and then for his friends who said, People would love this.Givenhiscuisine,Ruzgaob- Discover Why Home tainedafoodlicensethatenabled him to cook and deliver out of Gar- Sellers Trust Stacie Levy.denStateKitchen.Ittookafew monthstoworkoutthelogistics.Reliable Advisor. Resourceful Advocate. HedpackupcoolersfilledwithYour Partner in Real Estate Success.ice, deliver specialties to customers homes, then return and repeat.He created a droolworthy Insta-gram page. Hed email blast friendsStacie Levy stacie.levy@compass.com with his offerings, and then slowly, the list grew. And then it got crazy, saidLicensed Real Estate Salesperson M: 917.686.3821 | O: 973.310.6816Ruzga. I learned how to do e-commerce through Shopify, and it was so muchStacie Levy is a licensed is a real estate salesperson affiliated with Compass.easier. Compass is a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws.With more than 300 customers, and an average of 100 food drops per week, hestartedlookingcasuallyforhisown space.WhenaspaceonJacobyStreetbe-came available, it was destiny. Within six months, Ruzga opened Porta Rossa, a pas-ta and specialty grocery store and eatery showcasing his style of elevated simplicity. With seating indoors and outside, custom-ers can grab a sandwich, pasta or salad for lunch, pick up a prepared meal for dinner or satisfy that sweet tooth with homemade gelato or cannoli. Offerings change daily. Fellowfoodoperatorshavenotonly Matt Ruzga, featuring fresh pas- been watching carefully, theyve come to tas and sauces in his Maplewoodregard Ruzga as a mentor, an example of specialty store, shares tips for cot- what is [and is not] possible. tage food operators looking toEven with years of practice and hard scale. Photo by Ilysse Rimalovski.work, Ruzga still cant believe its real. He also values the added flexibility of being more available for his family. Below are insights Ruzga offers to emerging cottage food producers consider-ing their own storefronts:Do a lot of math (how many units do you have to sell to make a profit?).Wait until you feel that youve outgrown a commercial kitchen.Be aware of overhead costs including: rent, equipment, utilities, insur-ance, payroll/benefits, bookkeeping, POS system, internet, alarm system, taxes (federal, state, sales) and more. Ilysse Rimalovski is a well-seasoned home chef, host and content developer living in Maplewood who spent years working in the specialty food industry. Have food ques-tions or need inspiration? Visit Ilysses free Food Matters Zoom Room on Fridays from 12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Email forilysse@icloud.com for further details.feature story /15'