Healthy Warrior Pumps You Up

Healthy Warrior is a comprehensive organic meal plan, cooked and prepared by Mia Pasqualucci and delivered to your doorstep. But it’s so much more than that.

The menu is catered to your dietary needs (gluten-free and vegan, anyone?), but the service also forms around your lifestyle. “For every potential client, I will schedule a meeting with them to talk about their daily routines,” said Pasqualucci. “This way, I can get a feel for what they need health-wise and structure the meal package around what their body needs.”

Pasqualucci went to culinary school and has worked as a yoga and fitness instructor, so she has extensive experience with balancing nutrition with lifestyle. She has worked in the kitchen of the Four Seasons Biltmore for the past seven years but also spent time cooking at D’Angelo Pastry & Bread, the Santa Barbara Fish Market, and the Boathouse.

Food is in her family blood: Her grandparents ran an Italian restaurant when she was a kid, and the family’s life revolved around food. “Anytime we go home, we cook,” she said. “Some of my earliest memories are sitting at the counter, stirring the tomato sauce, and baking cookies. Pesto, marinara, and cookies were my favorite foods as a kid.”

Pasqualucci incorporates those childhood lessons with her professional experience for Healthy Warrior. “It is kind of a blend of everything I have learned,” she said. “I have taken the homey comfort food and adjusted it and applied it to really healthy meals using nutritious ingredients.”

With the Biltmore closed as a result of the Montecito mudslide, Pasqualucci is using her unexpected time off to start the business she’s always dreamed of. And she’s spreading the love by hiring coworkers from the Biltmore who are also out of work. “I get to bring the two things I love the most, health and food, while also helping the community by providing an option that doesn’t really exist,” she said. “And I get to employ my friends from the Biltmore who need the work right now.”

The Healthy Warrior meal plan uses all organic, locally sourced foods, and the top tier supplies three meals a day with snacks for the entire week. Every meal is tailored individually, differing in portion size and proteins depending on the goals and activities of each person. There are a variety of plans, schedules, and prices.

See healthywarriorsb.com.