Leonilda DeMilo, owner of Lingua e Cucina, teaches language through cooking in the heart of the historic Silvermine district of Norwalk.
DeMilo was born and raised in San Lorenzell, Italy, and still has a strong accent.
When she came to the U.S., she had a business history in radio sales and advertising. Upon arriving stateside, DeMilo earned an international marketing degree from Quinnipiac College. She quickly progressed in business and became an account executive at Ikon Office Solutions in Stamford and Milford.
“I loved my job, meeting and dealing with people,” said DeMilo.
DeMilo also co-owned a restaurant called Lee”™s Napoletana in Northford.
Though DeMilo, 51, loved the work she did in sales and at her restaurant, she is more profoundly connected to the work she does today.
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“This room almost took my life and now it is where I work,” said DeMilo, of the large entertaining area in the 183-year-old Cynthia and Steven Gregory House, where she lives and works.
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In 2001 DeMilo and her husband, Frank, bought the historic house in Silvermine that was on the brink of being demolished. Upon buying the house, built in 1826, and commencing construction on a large-scale addition, DeMilo became ill with an autoimmune disease caused by an allergic reaction to sheetrock. The cause of her sickness was not known for some time.
“My life stopped,” said DeMilo. “Coming from a small village in rural Italy, I had never been exposed to all these toxins.”
DeMilo”™s life was thrown into turmoil as she struggled from one doctor to the next. Misdiagnoses and a balancing act of prescriptions left DeMilo”™s career in rubble.
DeMilo attributes her recovery to a number of therapies including eye-movement desensitization, biofeedback and hypnosis as well as the use of spiritual healing techniques.
DeMilo didn”™t resent the house that nearly took her life. Instead, while she recuperated she began a new venture, Lingua e Cucina. Having cooked at her restaurant and tutored students in Italian upon immigrating to the United States, she says the venture seemed to be the only thing that made sense.
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“It was an exciting concept to me,” said DeMilo. “I teach the Italian language and culture while enjoying organic traditional Italian dishes. This house had turmoil, too, and was struggling to survive as I was.”
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She built herself a web page, linguaecucina.com, and within a week was surprised to find her first client calls coming from business people interested in finally learning about their Italian heritage and learning also to speak the language. Her group lessons are typically 10 people.
DeMilo said she feels a symbiotic relationship with the house in which she does her work.
“We each sought out survival and redemption while overcoming our own internal turmoil and fear of losing our own identity and existence,” said DeMilo. “It is now full of life.”
DeMilo said Lingua e Cucina has gained notoriety and interest as a unique learning concept that achieves results.
“It has been a venture that has nursed me as much as I”™ve nursed it,” said DeMilo. “Thanks to Lingua e Cucina, today I relive my Italian dream and I proudly promote my romantic language and heritage.”
DeMilo has recently taken the personalized language materials she typically distributes to her clients and has built them into a handbook for tourists interested only in speaking the language.
