Farina Pasta Bar
Social Media
Marketing
Email & SMS
Influencer Relations
Events
Philadelphia, PA
2024
Farina Pasta Bar is a Black-, veteran-, and family-owned build-your-own pasta concept in Rittenhouse, founded by U.S. Army veteran and Drexel-trained chef Dan Lee and his wife Taylor. The brand pairs scratch-made pasta and industrial-chic design with affordable luxury meals, and operates across three revenue streams: the flagship pasta bar at 132 S 17th Street, a Farina food truck, and a growing catering program serving collegiate, professional, and youth athletics.
Summary
Bella Vita partnered with Farina for two years as the brand's social media, email, SMS, and influencer-partnership lead. We arrived to a passionate founding team that had built a beautiful brand voice to accompany their new logo designs, but had limited marketing capacity and minimal organic reach. Over the engagement we built that infrastructure from the ground up, a defined content system, a Toast-integrated email and SMS program, and Philadelphia's most relevant local creator network for the category. The 12-month performance window closed at roughly 320,000 organic reach, +956 net new followers (+15.9%), and zero paid spend; alongside press placements in Fox 29, CBS News, 6ABC, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Challenge
Three obstacles defined the work.
First, real seasonality - summer is structurally slow for a pasta concept, meaning the marketing had to work hardest during the months guests are least inclined to order a hot bowl. Second, a menu in motion - frequent specials and last-minute substitutions meant the content workflow had to absorb change without losing brand coherence.
Third, a multi-channel business - pasta bar, food truck, and catering each carry a different audience and a different sales motion. Telling all three stories without diluting the brand was the central creative puzzle, especially while the founders were exploring an eventual franchise path and needed a marketing presence that looked the part.
Solutions
We led with what would compound. We built an organic content program anchored in trending-audio Reels, founder-forward storytelling, and a defined set of content pillars elastic enough to absorb menu shifts. We launched Farina's first formal influencer program - seasonal campaigns, in-kind partnership offers, custom printable PR boxes, and an annual family-style appreciation dinner that brought Philadelphia's top food creators into the dining room for a preview night. We picked up email and SMS, restructured both channels around an "email leads, social re-amplifies, SMS closes the loop" model, and built welcome and post-visit automation flows that became Farina's highest-converting marketing asset. To support the catering arm, we developed standardized outreach for the athletics and corporate track - anchored by a flagship relationship with Penn Athletics.
Every number above was earned organically. The foundation is now in place for paid distribution to compound on top of it
