Cassie Piuma

Growing up in Duxbury, Massachusetts,^[3] Piuma intended on a career in medicine. Instead of attending the University of Vermont, she went to Johnson & Wales University, graduating with a degree in culinary arts. While at school, she cooked at Providence restaurant Al Forno. She later moved to Boston and worked for Barbara Lynch at The Butcher Shop and Frank McClelland’s Sel de La Terre.^[4]

Piuma also worked for Sortun at Oleana in Cambridge, Massachusetts, eventually becoming Chef de Cuisine. In 2013, they opened Sarma.^[4]

Piuma has been nominated multiple times for the James Beard Foundation Award Best chef in the Northeast category (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020^[3] and 2022^[5]). Boston (magazine), in 2020, named her Best Chef, General Excellence, in Boston,^[6] In 2014, she was named Best Chef in the Up and Coming category.^[7]