by George Yatchisin

"Fresh pasta versus box pasta — the difference is night and day," says Diane Harding, owner of The Pasta Shoppe (38 W. Victoria St., [805] 770-3668, thepastashoppellc.com) in the Santa Barbara Public Market. "People come in and buy our pasta from Corona del Mar, Santa Monica, Thousand Oaks, and all say, 'You have to open something by us!'"

Luckily for Santa Barbara, Harding chose to open here. Or perhaps that's backward, as it was the market's creator, Marge Cafarelli, who chose Harding. "I came from a large Italian family back east in New York and watched my nonni make pasta growing up, so I jumped at the opportunity," said Harding.

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Source: http://www.independent.com/