Lifestyle

An Italian Chef, Michele Casadei Massari, Raising the Standards of the New York’s Fine Dining Scene

Published

6 years ago

July 28, 2020

New York, a land of captivating skyline view, dotted by exquisitely designed skyscrapers, a dynamic metropolis of art, fashion, theatre, and food, serves as the center of entertainment for the world. People from all across the world come to enjoy the richness of its all five boroughs, walk around some of the world’s best museums, and arts, visit the world’s most famous street cuts, Broadway, and the diverse food scene.

New York’s food is a highlight, and one of the top reasons why this part of the United States is one of the most popular traveling destinations. From high-end global food chains to international and experimental food, this place has a lot to offer when it comes to food. Katz’s Delicatessen, Peter Luger, Lombardi’s, Keens Steakhouse, Tavern on the Green, Lucciola restaurant, and Piccolo Café are the eat-out spots that dominate New York’s food scene.

Lucciola restaurant and Piccolo Café are restaurants that were founded by an Italian-born chef, who learned how to cook by working at a wood-burning kitchen. Michele Casadei Massari, a food-enthusiast from Italy, is taking New York’s restaurant sector by a storm. Landed in New York in 2009, this man runs five restaurants today. The fact that he started his culinary profession from a ‘coffee-kiosk’ makes his story worth bringing into the limelight.

The Five-Ingredient Chef, Serving the Food Sector the Right Way

Michele Casadei Massari is an executive chef that uses five ingredients to create his signature dishes at the restaurants. He follows this strict rule, and it has helped him distinguish himself from the hundreds of chefs that are working in New York. He believes that too many ingredients negatively impact the true flavor and feel of a dish. To experience the real taste and enjoy the true flavors, a minimalist approach is what makes Michele, New York’s famous, “Five-Ingredient’s Chef.”

The first of the five Piccolo Cafe Restaurants started serving the food-lovers with an exquisite range of delicious dishes on April 1, 2009. At this time, the young and aspiring chef was unsure about the performance of his restaurant. However, his restaurant performed phenomenally well that within six months, another restaurant was opened in the New York Times Building. Serving its guests with delicious salads, Panini, Pasta, desserts, and coffee, this restaurant expanded further, and the total number of branches reached five. Not only this, but in 2014, Michele’s restaurant started its catering service, which like the restaurants, was a huge success.

Michele, through the Piccolo Cafe Restaurant, has provided catering services to notable companies, including Ferrari North America. Were the four Piccolo Café restaurants enough? No. Michele wanted to dominate the New York food sector with his elite cooking skills as he laid the foundation for another restaurant, Lucciola. It started operating in on December 1, 2017, and is located on 90st Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

As Michele was born in Romagna, Riccione, and raised in Bologna, he was eager to bring the taste of his hometown to New York. Even though he left his homeland for the sake of his dream, he could not let go of his fondness for Italian cuisine. Lucciola started as an Italian restaurant to bring the taste from Michele’s hometown to New York.

A Dreamer and a Doer

While everyone in this world is a dreamer, there are not many doers. While everyone has the power to dream, not everyone has the courage to turn them into reality. Making a dream come true is not a matter of fate or luck. Instead, it takes numerous sacrifices to achieve life goals.

Michele was not just a dreamer; he was a doer. Acquiring exceptional cooking skills from his grandfather, Gigi, by assisting him in his cooking in a wood-burning kitchen, to owning five restaurants, takes much more than just hard work. The cooking enthusiast cooked his first dish for his mother when he was just nine years old since then; the passionate individual has not given up on his dream.

At the time he was enrolled in medical school, he started working at restaurants as a part-time employee. It helped him establish the roots of his culinary career. While working at the local restaurants, he decided his love for food surpassed that of medicine.

In 2009, Michele went to New York after his idea to start a coffee-kiosk was accepted after being rejected once. He started his coffee-kiosk, which gained popularity almost immediately, and he began receiving offers to open a proper restaurant. New York’s food industry is a highlight in the world, and Michele elevated the entire food scene with his powerful culinary skills powered by a strong passion for becoming a top chef in the world.

Lifestyle

When Seasons Shift: Dr. Leeshe Grimes on Grief, Loneliness, and Finding Light Again

Published

3 days ago

February 22, 2026

Michelle Langton

Some emotional storms arrive without warning. A sudden change in weather, a holiday approaching, or even a bright sunny day can stir feelings that don’t match the world outside. For many people, the hardest seasons are not defined by temperature; they are defined by what’s happening inside, where grief and loneliness often move quietly.

This is the emotional terrain where Dr. Leeshe Grimes has spent her career doing some of her most meaningful work. As a psychotherapist, registered play therapist, retired U.S. Army combat veteran, and founder of Elevated Minds in the DMV area, she understands how deeply seasonal shifts and unresolved grief can affect people. Her upcoming books explore this very space, guiding readers through the emotional weight that can appear during different times of the year.

What sets Dr. Grimes apart is her ability to see clearly what many people overlook. Seasonal depression, for example, is usually tied to winter months. But she often sees it appear during warm, bright seasons, the times when the world seems happiest. For someone already grieving or feeling disconnected, watching others travel, celebrate, or gather can create its own kind of heaviness. Sunshine doesn’t always lift the mood; sometimes it highlights what feels missing.

The same misunderstanding surrounds grief. Society often treats it as a short-term experience with predictable phases and a clean ending. But in her practice, Dr. Grimes sees how grief keeps evolving. It doesn’t disappear on a timeline. It weaves itself into routines, memories, and milestones. People learn to carry it differently, but they rarely leave it behind completely. And that’s not failure, it’s human.

Her approach to mental health centers on truth rather than pressure. She encourages clients to acknowledge the emotions they try to hide: sadness that lingers longer than expected, moments of joy that feel out of place, and the waves of loneliness that return even when life seems stable. Instead of pushing for quick recovery, she focuses on helping people understand how emotions shift and how to care for themselves through those changes.

Much of her insight comes from her military years, where she witnessed the emotional toll of loss, transition, and constant survival. She saw how people continued functioning while carrying pain that had nowhere to go. That experience shaped her belief that healing requires space, space to feel, to speak, and to move through emotions without judgment.

In her clinical work today at Elevated Minds, she encourages people to build small, steady habits that anchor them during difficult seasons. Journaling helps them recognize patterns and name what feels heavy. Community support breaks the cycle of isolation. Therapy creates a place where emotions don’t have to be minimized or explained away. And intentional routines, daily sunlight, mindful breaks, and calm evenings help rebuild emotional balance.

Her upcoming books expand on these ideas, offering practical guidance for navigating both grief and seasonal depression. She focuses on helping readers understand that healing is not about escaping pain. It’s about learning how to live with it in a healthier way, honoring memories, acknowledging loneliness, and still allowing room for moments of light.

What makes Dr. Leeshe Grimes a compelling voice in mental health is her ability to bring language to experiences that many struggle to explain. She reminds people that emotional seasons don’t always match the weather and that there is no single path through grief. But within those shifts, she believes there is always a way forward.

The seasons will continue to change. And with the right tools, compassion, and support, people can change with them, finding steadiness, softness, and light again, one step at a time.