Cassie Piuma
Sarma | Cambridge, MA
JULY 2024
After leaving her hometown of Duxbury, Massachusetts to study medicine, Cassie Piuma discovered that lab coats and stethoscopes weren’t really her thing. So, Piuma turned to what she loved most: food. After her first foray into the kitchen at Top of the Hub, she enrolled in culinary school at Johnson & Wales University, where she met her husband and future business partner Matthew Piuma. While still in school, she joined the team at Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, learning new skills, gaining experience, and playing with regional Italian cuisines. She graduated with honors before spending a semester at the AtSunrice Global Chef Academy in Singapore.
In 2002, Piuma moved to Boston and dove into French cuisine at Sel de la Terre before taking a job at Butcher Shop, where she worked as a sausage maker. Ready for more, Piuma brought her talents to Rising Stars alum Ana Sortun’s Oleana, where she rose from line cook to sous chef before eventually becoming chef de cuisine. After 11 years of working at Oleana and learning the nuances of Middle Eastern cooking, Piuma and her husband—with help from Sortun—opened their mezze-forward restaurant, Sarma, in 2013. Shortly after, in 2015, she was named a StarChefs Rising Star. Since then, her restaurant has become a Boston institution with guests clamoring over the distinctive, shareable, Mediterranean-focused plates that have earned her a slew of James Beard Award nominations over the past decade. Piuma continues to create an exciting menu and approachable atmosphere at Sarma while inspiring the next generation of chefs in her kitchen.
2015 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner
2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Mentor Chef Award Winner
