When Debby Dyar’s son was studying in Italy during high school, Debby met the mother of another student in the same program. They were both good cooks and immediately hit it off, deciding to go into business together to produce biscotti. The company enjoyed meteoric success, getting into Williams-Sonoma’s cookware and food catalog and stores and into the Starbucks Coffee stores. The partners eventually sold the business, and Debby thought she had “retired.”
About a year later, she was contacted by the headmaster of the school her son had attended in Italy. “He asked me to come to Florence to research Italian recipes and develop products that would represent the wine country and culinary regions of Tuscany and California.” So Debby developed California products with Italian roots for Viva Sonoma.
There are many links between California and the Tuscany wine region of Italy, including the Viva Cooking School and Cultural Center in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, California, which is affiliated with Chef Andrea Bianchini, the well-known Florentine pastry chef and chocolatier, and Apicius Culinary Institute of Florence.
Debby’s business partner, Phil Walker, came from a very different background. “My mother could sew really well, but she just couldn’t cook. I was one of the few guys in college who thought the dorm food was great,” he laughs. “But I love to eat good food.”
After years of international travel and many other business ventures, Phil has discovered that he likes all the aspects of the food business. “I like the people, the food shows. I love talking with people about our products.”
Debby and Phil have added Black Ace Licorice to the Food Savvy products. “It seemed like a natural offshoot.”
They are especially proud of the success of their Italian style cookies. “We started with the Viva Sonoma cookies, and we’re very pleased that they are a finalist for the 2007 NASFT Outstanding Product award in the cookie category!”
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