Forget a desk job

As former co-workers at a Boston design firm, their days were spent “sitting in a chair in front of a computer,’’ says Marshall with a moan. “We never had to think,’’ Foster says. Now their weeks are as diverse as their penne — wheat and ground flaxseed, beet, roasted red pepper, and squid ink. They may not be rolling in the dough just yet, but even in the middle of a harried work week, they radiate life. “If you have a job that makes you happy, it’s not like going to work,’’ says Foster, who fell for fresh pasta during a college semester in Florence.

In the past few years Greater Boston has become a hub for young food entrepreneurs attracted to places like CropCircle Kitchen, which rents out ovens and counter space. With job security bleak and personal fulfillment a high priority for this generation of Millennials (born between 1980-95), more and more of them are stepping away from traditional jobs and into the kitchen. Besides Nella Pasta, about a half-dozen energetic new businesses have sprung up in this region. They include Emmiez Croutons, Sweet Lydia’s, Grillo’s Pickles, and Chive Sustainable Event Design and Catering.

CropCircle (formerly Nuestra Culinary Ventures), is a shared kitchen space where companies pay from $15 to $30 an hour for access to commercial ovens, counter space, and industrial mixers. Of the 22 food companies that rent here, seven are run by entrepreneurs in their 20s.

“I can’t imagine a better time to start a new food business,’’ says Jonathan Kemp, executive director of the culinary incubator. “The generation of folks in their early 20s that have been constrained with traditional jobs and unsatisfied with the suburban home model haven’t been told that they must keep doing it,’’ says Kemp. “They have an urge to do something different.’’

Lawrence Hester sure did. The Brown University graduate left a six-figure salary on Wall Street after three years because he “wasn’t excited to go into work anymore.’’ At a potluck dinner one night, he turned the one thing he knew how to make — banana bread — into croutons. An exit strategy was born. “People have salads every day, but there’s no effort put into croutons,’’ says Hester, 27, an athletic blond with a runaway beard. “The flavors of most croutons are so bland. This could be a whole new market.’’