A descendant of a family of gelato makers founded in 1911, Lucca Cantarin has turned his family’s legacy into an artisanal pastry workshop. Founder of Pasticceria Marisa and member of the Accademia Maestri Pasticceri Italiani, he is one of the leading figures in contemporary Italian pastry.
The Cantarin family’s confectionery tradition dates back to 1911, when grandfather Mario began producing and selling artisanal gelato from his street cart. His daughter Marisa later carried on the business, opening her first café and gelateria in 1982. In 2002, the third generation—led by Lucca and his sister Erica—transformed the business into a true pastry shop: Pasticceria Marisa in Arsego, a district of San Giorgio delle Pertiche (Padua), now a benchmark for quality and creativity in Italian pastry.
Born in 1976, Lucca Cantarin attended the hospitality school in Castelfranco Veneto, starting as a waiter in prestigious establishments such as Villa Sassi in Turin, the Excelsior in Florence, and the Cala di Volpe in Costa Smeralda. His defining experience came at Le Calandre, the three-Michelin-star restaurant of the Alajmo family, where he became production manager and discovered his passion for pastry.
From 1997 onward, he trained between Italy and Europe, working with Francisco Torreblanca, Maison Baud, and Pasticceria Biasetto, learning three principles that shaped his career: rational thinking, creative expression, and emotional communication. In 2002, he and his sister founded Pasticceria Marisa—a workshop where craftsmanship meets research and aesthetic sensibility.
In 2008, he joined the Accademia Maestri Pasticceri Italiani, affirming his position in the Italian pastry elite. His international breakthrough came in 2013 at the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie in Lyon, representing Italy among 22 nations and 88 pastry chefs.
At the Identità Golose Congress in 2016, he introduced his signature PanettONE, a reinterpretation of the traditional panettone featuring shortcrust pastry inserts—an emblem of his philosophy: respect for memory paired with a taste for experimentation. The following year, he received the award for the Best Traditional Panettone in Veneto (2017).
Alongside his pastry work, Cantarin is deeply involved in training and consultancy through LEM Academy at Marisa Lab 4.0, a space dedicated to both professional and personal growth. There he offers one-to-one, B2B, and B2C courses, emphasizing not only technique and production but also communication and collaboration—“the real keys to success,” as he often says.
