Greenwich Foodies Rejoice -- Citarella Gourmet Food Market Opens

Within 20 minutes of opening the doors, dozens of foodies already were swarming the wide aisles of Greenwich’s newest gourmet food store — ooh-ing and aah-ing over the glistening array of seafood, the prime meat case laden with aging slabs of porterhouse steaks and sampling melt-in-your-mouth slices of carrot cake.

And for Joe Gurrera, the Tuesday opening of his seventh Citarella store — his first in Connecticut — was the culmination of a nearly two-year project at 600 W. Putnam Ave., a sprawling building that once housed fabled race car driver Luigi Chinetti’s Ferrari dealership back in the 1960s and ‘70s.

“We got our approval on July 31, 2013. We had to overcome different obstacles with the town and the landlord but we did it,” Gurrera said as he strolled through the 20,000 square foot market.

Gurrera bought the Citarella fish market in New York City back in 1983 and has expanded the brand into a gourmet food empire that includes three stores in the Big Apple as well as three outposts in the Hamptons on Long Island. He said opening a store in Greenwich “follows our plan. … And it’s three things — location, location, location. We always thought Greenwich was a great sport for us for what we offer.”

Gurrera said, “We offer the best merchandise money can buy. We hand-make all of our burgers. We offer only prime meat. This is something that is not offered in Greenwich.” He added, “Everything is made in our kitchens here and in the city with our recipes. I would offer anyone to buy our meatballs and lasagna and if they don’t like it, I’ll double their money.”

And that business plan certainly appealed to shoppers. “We need a place like this. There’s Balducci’s at the other end of town and Tarry Market (across the border in Port Chester). We’ve been in a food desert here. This is wonderful,” gushed Marilyn Geiger as she walked towards the prepared foods section.

As the lunch hour progressed, the number of shoppers continued to grow with office workers ordering up sushi; pizzas and strombolis from the pizza bar; and prepared entrees from the extensive display where workers eagerly offered samples. Prepared sandwiches and salads that start at $5.99. In the prepared food department, salmon entrees, crab cakes and salads such as chicken or tuna salad, start at $7.99 per pound, and range to $24.99 for a pound of cooked swordfish and beef Wellington at $39.99 a pound. There’s also a variety of cooking stocks, soups, condiments, homemade pastas and sauces, cheeses, bread and a bakery.

The Greenwich store offers more food options than the six other Citarella stores, explained Gurrera’s wife Yusi. Among the new choices, are the sushi bar, a made-to-order sandwich bar, a juice bar, olive bar with 30-plus varieties, and a cafe where diners can enjoy their food and plug in to the free WiFi and charging stations, according to Yusi Gurrera.

She said the company buys its meats directly from meat purveyors and cattle farmers. “We buy the whole slab…we butcher everything and dry age it for 21 days. We had the space here, so we have dry-aging on site (in a cooler) made specifically for this store,” Yusi Gurrera said. With her husband’s seafood market at the Fulton Fish Market, she said they source the seafood and shellfish “from along the entire East Coast and from around the globe.”

The Gurreras are putting the finishing touches on a 1,500-square-foot wine and spirits shop next door to the food market, that should be operational by mid-June.

Yusi Gurrera said the store will offer sampling of foodstuffs on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays and will be offering food and wine classes.

The store employs nearly 80 and “we’re still looking for more,” Joe Gurrera said.

The store will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect a change in the store’s operating hours.

Photos: The new Citarella gourmet food store with owner Joe Gurrera and his wife Yusi. Credit: Barbara Heins.