2 Entrepreneurs Join 317 Main Street In Farmingdale

FARMINGDALE, NY — Two entrepreneurs have joined 317 Main Street's Marketplace, bolstering the Farmingdale restaurant's stable of all-star businesspeople.

James Serpico of Side Hustle and Hanane Rasuli of French Boards and Bites will now sell their meat-and-cheese-filled bread, baguettes, charcuterie boards, breakfast boxes and other products out of the marketplace in the back of the restaurant at 317 Main Street.

Both launched their ventures shortly after the coronavirus pandemic began and quickly built strong brands, Chef Eric LeVine and restaurateur Joe Fortuna told Patch.

"They both have businesses that are growing," LeVine told Patch. "We looked at this as an opportunity in the marketplace to create a real strong marketplace. Giving our customers more options and giving their customers a place to come instead of them running all over the state to deliver stuff to.”

Side Hustle

James Serpico launched Side Hustle in May 2020 following 30 years as a television producer. A family trip to Florence, Italy, where Serpico learned to make pasta, led him to try to recreate a prosciutto bread that he loved at a restaurant in Queens.

"It got to a point where I was very happy with it and I started sharing it with family and friends, and people started asking for it," Serpico said.

Serpico, who calls himself a hobbyist, found himself with a lot of free time when the pandemic began. He decided to post photos of his prosciutto bread on Instagram. People asked to buy the bread, and he was eventually invited to a farmers market.

Serpico began baking 700 to 1,000 loaves of bread a week, making most of them in his home. LeVine and Fortuna took notice, and they invited Serpico to join the 317 team.

Side Hustle's offerings include prosciutto bread, baguettes, jalapeno cheddar bread and more. No preservatives are used in the bread, and the prices range from $5 to $12 depending on how complicated the recipe is.

LeVine has concocted dips for his various types of bread and plans to sell them in the restaurant portion of 317 as a flight appetizer.

French Boards and Bites

Hanane Rasuli's journey with French Boards and Bites began in summer 2020. Rasuli, who moved to the United States from France six years ago, crafted charcuterie boards and small boxes of food inspired by her hometown.

"I grew up eating cheese, and I always loved making cheese boards since I was 13 or 14 in my little village in France," Rasuli said. "It was a fun way for me to share my love and passion for cheese and meat."

LeVine approached her a couple of months ago.

"The opportunity for me was amazing because it’s going to be good for me to grow my business and have a place where people can come and see the product," she said. "They can have grab and go, and pre-order."

The French meats and cheeses Rasuli uses, as well as the artistic display she crafts with her charcuterie boards, are what sets her apart. She will sell brunch boxes and a handful of other packages at the 317 Marketplace.

The charcuterie boards range in price from $25 for the smallest to $350 for the largest, which serves 20 to 30 people. The charcuterie boards will likely replace the ones 317 had been selling previously, LeVine said.

A four-person breakfast box retails for $60 and features four each of orange juices, crepes, parfaits, croissants, avocado and salmon or tomato and feta toasts, dried fruits and fresh fruits.

"It’s not average salami, ham, olives and some garbage cheese, it’s all great stuff," LeVine said. "The quality is great, and the presentation is amazing. Having Hanane here is a blessing."

It All Comes Together at 317 Main Street

Serpico and Rasuli's brands joining 317 Main Street could have potentially saved the marketplace portion of the restaurant, LeVine and Fortuna said. The marketplace offers desserts, take-home pasta, sauces, cooking equipment, coffee and more. Now, it offers artisanal bread and charcuterie.

"Having an all-star cast is the greatest thing in the universe," LeVine said. "Joe and I have been talking about that space and either really going all in, or shutting it down. Because we needed to do something different back there to get eyes on it."

Having Side Hustle and French Boards and Bites will help those two start-ups grow, as well as 317 Main Street itself, LeVine said.

"It’s a real partnership because everyone does their part," he said. "We help each other, we rely on each other, we push each other, and we get creative with each other. Just by talking together, it’s limitless what we can do inside."

LeVine said he and Fortuna are constantly talking about growing 317 Main Street, whether it's evolving the menu or opening new spots such as the marketplace.

"We want to make Farmingdale an amazing mecca for everything," LeVine said. "Having both [Side Hustle and French Boards and Bites] here is a monster. No one is selling great fresh bread or charcuterie in this area. But now, somebody is: at the marketplace."

Having the two merchants on the team also opens 317 up for new ideas, such as a farmers market in the garden area that was built in the back of the restaurant. LeVine lauded Serpico for that idea.

"Speaking for [Hanane and myself], we’re grateful for the opportunity," Serpico said. "For us, it’s an opportunity that we wouldn’t have had without these guys, so we’re really excited."

LeVine was quick to add that it is a "mutual appreciation."

"It’s a weird thing because most people are in that ‘I’m not going to do anything more’ mode, because they’re afraid, with the world being what it is," LeVine said. "Here, you’ve got two entrepreneurs who are like, ‘Hell yeah!’ Us as well. We’re going to keep moving forward. It’s a great thing."