Tara Punzone

Italian American chef Tara Punzone brings plant-based Southern Italian cooking to Los Angeles at Pura Vita, the first fully vegan Italian restaurant and wine bar in the United States.

Chef

We talk about Tara Punzone

The Chef

Italian American chef Tara Punzone has been vegan for more than thirty years, transforming her family’s traditional southern Italian recipes into plant-based classics without compromise. After cooking in New York and Rome, she opened Pura Vita in West Hollywood in 2018—the first 100-percent vegan Italian restaurant and wine bar in the U.S. Her deeply personal approach to food blends heritage, health, and hospitality, honoring the flavors of Calabria and Naples through a modern, compassionate lens.