Born in New York and raised in Virginia, Gina DePalma credits her close-knit Italian family for instilling a love and understanding of good food simply prepared from the best of ingredients. Her training began at home in the kitchens of her mother and grandmother and continued in the professional culinary program at the former Peter Kump's New York Cooking School (now the Institute of Culinary Education). She soon found her calling in the pastry kitchen after completing an apprenticeship at Chanterelle. She worked for two years at Gramercy Tavern before becoming pastry chef of The Cub Room. In 1998, she was hired by Mario Batali to open Babbo Ristorante and Enoteca. In the Babbo kitchen, her creativity shines forth through the marriage of seasonal, regional ingredients with traditional Italian desserts.