Local pasta connoisseurs who have enjoyed tortellini, ravioli or gnocchi from the Assenti family shop in Little Italy owe their gastronomical gratitude to Adriana Assenti, a tiny woman with enormous drive and energy.

Mrs. Assenti was an old-fashioned wife and mother who lovingly raised five children, helped her neighbors when needed and made huge pots of minestrone and big batches of gnocchi for The Isle of Capri, the restaurant owned by her husband and his partner for many years. After the restaurant closed due to lease problems, Mrs. Assenti wanted to keep her family working together and came up with the idea of selling fresh pasta.

She had often made pasta by hand for her family, rolling the dough, cutting the pasta and carefully draping the pieces for drying. When Assenti's Pasta opened in Little Italy in 1981, San Diegans were able to purchase fresh pasta made from Mrs. Assenti's family recipes.

Mrs. Assenti died of pancreatic cancer Oct. 27 at San Diego Hospice. She was 83.

Family and friends said Mrs. Assenti didn't plan on being an entrepreneur but she felt strongly about having a family business that would thrive and endure while also sharing her beloved Italian culture with the community.

She worked at the shop for several years and although it had been her idea and it took off with her recipes, Mrs. Assenti was content to take a back seat. "As soon as she got the business going, she stepped back and let her husband and family take over," said nephew Benny Brunetto. "She was the driving force but she didn't seek the glory."

Mrs. Assenti was active in Little Italy community events and with the House of Italy in Balboa Park, said friend Richard Tomasello. "She was always cranking out the cannoli or gnocchi (for special events). She was a marvelous cook," Tomasello said. "She was mild-mannered and a hard worker. When I went deep-sea fishing, I would bring her tuna and she would can a few jars of tuna for me, that was a treat for me."

Longtime family friend Michele Farres said Mrs. Assenti, who was like a second mother to her, was a talented seamstress who made a prom dress for her from a picture. "She was an amazing lady with a spirit of love and kindness," Farres said.

Mrs. Assenti was born Sept. 7, 1926, in San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy, to Domenico Sabatini and Emma Flammini. Her mother died when she was a child and she and her siblings were left in the care of an aunt, who died five years later. She and her twin sister, Renata, and younger sister, Sara, moved to the United States in 1947 to join their father, who had immigrated earlier.

Mrs. Assenti learned English and got a job at the High Seas Cannery in Point Loma. She was the first of her Italian-American contemporaries to get a driver's license and a car and would often drive her friends to work and to the grocery store, according to her daughter Rosangela. "She always wanted to help everybody. She was hardworking, patient and loving. She never sat still," Rosangela Assenti said.

In addition to cooking and sewing, Mrs. Assenti enjoyed gardening and was active with Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church.

The former Adriana Sabatini married Umberto Assenti in 1953 and the couple had five children.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Assenti is survived by two sons, Roberto and Luigi; and three daughters, Rosangela, Gilda and Iolanda Sardo; a sister, Sara Bruno, all of San Diego; and 12 grandchildren.

The family suggests donations to San Diego Hospice, 4311 Third Ave., San Diego, CA 92103.

Services were held Nov. 2 at Our Lady of the Rosary Church.
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Established in 1981, Assenti's Pasta was born out of mother Adriana Assenti's desire to bring fresh pasta to the masses. Adriana and her husband, Umberto Assenti were married in 1953 in San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy. Shortly after their union they moved to San Diego, CA where they began their new lives by establishing themselves in the local food service industry. Umberto pursued an entrepreneurial career as a restaurateur, with the purchase of The Isle of Capri in 1956.

Using her family recipes that she brought with her from San Benedetto del Tronto, Adriana would make all the pasta by hand for her family. "Mom made pasta at home for as long as I can remember," says Roberto, "the old-fashioned way with a rolling pin. She would cut the pasta and drape it on the furniture all over the house to dry". When the shop first opened Adriana and her sons, Roberto and Luigi, would still make all the pasta by hand, customizing each pasta order per client request. Soon demand began to outstrip the Assenti's capacity to produce the pasta in such a manner, and pasta machines were ordered.

Their investment into pasta machines allowed the Assenti's to experiment with various pasta shapes and flavors. The production of the Assenti family favorite recipes enabled the shop to flourish. After experimenting with all kinds of specialty pastas for chefs around town, Assenti's began producing a line for their retail customers, creating several new pastas and offering 44 varieties of pasta flavors to choose from.

Today, brothers, and co-owners, Luigi and Roberto Assenti play caretakers to the Assenti's faithful clientele. And the faithful are many. To best maintain the quality or freshness of the pasta, Assenti's Pasta uses numerous fresh and dry herbs and spices to naturally create a variety of pasta flavors desired by their clientele.

Although the store's specialty is its fresh pasta, Assenti's also stocks all manner of Italian treats and tools. Let your eyes gaze around the store, where the shelves hold pastas, olive oils and balsamic vinegar's, cannellini and lentil beans, pizelle bakers, coffee pots, graters, pasta bowls, oil cans and many other products of Italy.

The Assenti family invites you to enjoy the best pasta available- "Where quality and freshness are never compromised".