RICHMOND, Va. -- Bombolini Pasta in Richmond is best known for its sauces and rotating array of fresh pastas which range from traditional to chocolate to squid ink.
This year, the Richmond restaurant is celebrating its 10th year as a storefront on Main Street in the Fan.
Before it moved to its current location, Bombolini owners John and Lolita Kreckman made fresh pasta in their garage.
“I had a full-time job," John said about the long hours they put in launching Bombolini. "I used to do pasta between, you know, 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. Then we would make deliveries in the morning,”
Kreckman, a Richmond native, met Lolita, who grew up in Latvia, 19 years ago when Lolita worked as an au pair.
The couple traveled the world before they ended up in the Florida Keys, working at a restaurant that made fresh pasta.
When John and Lolita decided to marry, they chose to get married in Richmond.
The newlyweds stayed in Richmond, bought a house, and started making pasta in 2008.
Their pasta business grew popular and two years later moved Bombolini from the garage to the Fan.
The West Main Street location is just three blocks from where John Kreckman grew up.
Kreckman said he fell in love with the building as a child when it was Laura Lighting and displayed a large neon lightning bolt.
Beyond fond childhood memories, the Kreckman chose the building because of its potential. There are vaulted ceilings and space to grow.
The storefront takes up only a third of the entire building.
“There's really two thirds of it behind the wall," he said. "It gives us enough space to change our mind to do something different if we want to so."
Bombolini recently opened a new storefront attraction, a distillery producing golden and silver rum.
John and Lolita said it's their hope Bombolini can consistently evolve and improve.
“It's nuts. It's fun. I mean, everything rotates," John said. "We change flavors. We change styles. We change everything all the time.”
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