Scigliano's Brings New York Deli to FishHawk

No matter what they do, supermarkets can't offer everything.

Growing up in Queens, NY, Chris Scigliano was used to acquiring food in a certain way. Vegetables and other groceries were gathered from a market, meats from a deli and breads from a bakery. These days, big chain supermarkets are a one stop shop for everything, but some things have been lost, Scigliano says. With his in FishHawk Ranch, he's trying to recapture the quality found in the Big Apple.

"The bread you get in the supermarket is soft all over," Scigliano said. "People who grew up down here come in and think that our bread is stale not realizing how Italian bread is supposed to be. I think people, particularly the New Yorkers in the area, really appreciate the products that we're offering."

Scigliano came to the Lithia area four years ago to be closer to his wife's family but missed certain comforts that life in a city like New York can provide. A real Italian sandwich was one of the things that Scigliano found it hard to locate in the country setting of FishHawk.

"Everywhere you go they put ham on an Italian sandwich," Scigliano said. "We put genoa salami, mortadella, provolone and peperoni; that's what's on an Italian sandwich. If we don't make the bread everyday, then it's delivered. I think people see the difference in how the sandwich is made."

Prior to opening the market, Scigliano was making sandwiches at the FishHawk Aquatic Center's Aquatic Cafe as well as operating the concession stands at the . The experience gave him a customer base to work with, but he eventually decided he needed his own place.

"We had 500 Facebook friends when we opened this place four months ago," Scigliano said. "I tried to do some of these sandwiches at the Aquatic Cafe but at the end of the day, people still look at it as a pool. It was good because I had a following already, and people wanted a place like this to open up. You can only eat McDonald's so many times."

The market brandishes a wide variety of products brought in from New York, including the bagels that Scigliano's uses on its breakfast menu. The bagels are cooked a little more than half way and then frozen before being shipped. They get finished being cooked on location and provide a real New York bagel right here in FishHawk.

"We just started doing bagels, and a lot of our cookies and pastries come from New York too," Scigliano said. "We have some sausages that come straight from Italy, but sometimes it takes a few weeks to get because we're out here a ways and you have to find someone to deliver it to us. We make our own mozzarella and our own sauces too. I think people are enjoying the fact that we have something different to offer."

Scigliano's Community Involvement

Since opening, Scigliano has attempted to entrench his business in the FishHawk community by supporting local Little Leagues and other organizations. When the Watson family in December, Scigliano put them up in a hotel for a week and did everything he could to help the family and the community's effort to get the Watsons' lives back on track.

"We donated sandwiches to everyone helping them out with the cleanup, and we got them set up at a hotel here in the area to help out," Scigliano said. "That's why I like this area. This is a family oriented place, and even though not everybody really knows the Watsons, they stepped up and did the right thing."

The market is home to a bible study group, book club and other community groups that use it as a meeting place. Scigliano now plans to open the market up to Italian cooking demonstrations and other events to bring the community into the store.

In order to grow the name, Scigliano has used Facebook to promote the market, offering specials on the popular social networking site that are available only to fans of the site.

"We've had a lot of people take advantage of our Facebook specials," Scigliano said. "It's been a really good tool for us. We'll do a bagel and coffee for $1.50 for example. It's good 'cause helps to keep people coming back."

If You Go

15260 Fishhawk Blvd., Lithia
813-689-SCIG (7244)

For more information about Scigliano's, visit their Facebook page.