Students With Mouth-Watering Dishes, Senior Is Already a Culinary Entrepreneur Stories You May Like After Wowing Gordon Ramsay, Student Chef Is Really Cooking Hotelie Aims to Bring Brown Butter to a Dairy Case Near You As the Statler’s GM, Hotelie Doles Out Big Red Hospitality Boasting more than 100K Instagram followers, Maximo Mander ’26 is mining his Italian roots with a pop-up pasta restaurant By Melissa Newcomb Maximo Mander ’26 grew up spending summers in Italy, where his grandparents are from, and the rest of the year in his home city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. By the time he was a teenager, he’d also visited many other countries around the world. “In each culture, one of the most important aspects is the way of offering hospitality,” observes Mander, who’s in his final semester as a Hotelie. “In Italy, the waiters are charismatic—and that’s when I realized I loved the theater of dining.” Mander also loved the counter-service pasta offered throughout the country, where it’s prepared freshly and quickly, tossed into a container, and either eaten in or taken on the go. He brought that concept to his pop-up eatery, Pronti Pasta, which specializes in events at established restaurants or bars that are looking to bring a new offering to their patrons. In action in the kitchen. All of the pasta is fresh and hand-cut, topped with scratch-made sauces like pomodoro, pesto, ragù (a meat-based red sauce), and truffle—plus tiramisù for dessert. “Pasta is the food I like to eat the most; it’s simple, delicious, and unpretentious,” Mander says. “You make it with just a few ingredients, it’s healthy, and you can eat it every day.” Pasta is the food I like to eat the most; it’s simple, delicious, and unpretentious. Mander’s interest in food stretches back to his youth; he even took a pastry-making course with his mom—who’s a chocolatier—when they were living in Argentina. He came to the Hill after spending a semester at a high-end culinary school in Paris, an experience that convinced him he’s actually more interested in the entrepreneurial side of restaurants than in hands-on cooking. Pronti Pasta's offerings, which come in bespoke containers. Stories You May Like After Wowing Gordon Ramsay, Student Chef Is Really Cooking Hotelie Aims to Bring Brown Butter to a Dairy Case Near You Pronti—which takes its name from the Italian word for “ready”—had its first-ever pop-up in the bar space of a Mexican restaurant in Collegetown in March 2025. “The event was awesome,” he recalls. “The vibe was good, and people loved the food.” Pronti—which takes its name from the Italian word for “ready”—had its first-ever pop-up in the bar space of a Mexican restaurant in Collegetown in March 2025. Mander has gone on to host events in NYC and in Miami, where his family relocated when he was 17; he plans to live there after graduation and run Pronti full time (and eventually, hire a chef so he can focus on the business side). “Hopefully I’ll be able to turn it into something similar to a Shake Shack for pasta,” he says. “That’s my dream life, at least; achieving it is a different scenario.” At a dinner party, a tower of tiramisù. Beyond the business, Mander has amassed more than 100,000 followers—and, he says, some four million views—on his food-themed Instagram. It features not only mouth-watering savories like steak, pizza, risotto, and beef Wellington, but baked goods including tarts, croissants, and picture-perfect macarons. His Insta also showcases the elaborate dinners he hosts at his apartment for his fellow Cornellians and other guests—creating indulgent dishes like beef short ribs and spaghetti with lobster, but most of all savoring their company. “Having dinner is about more than the food,” Mander says. “It’s about the moment that’s created with good people having a fun time.” Top: Mander in a campus kitchen. (Jason Koski / Cornell University) All other images provided. Published January 30, 2026 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Cornelliana Prankster’s Legendary Exploits Enthralled Cornellians for Decades Alumni Bestselling Children’s Author Weaves Tales of Wonder Alumni Alum Aimed for Zero Waste—And Wrote a Book About It