A Culinary Tour of Piccolo Gourmet

I went to to taste their baci pizza and ended up having a feast. Walking into a new deli is an experience where the pendulum can swing either way – will it be a place where the guy behind the counter indifferently slaps together a sandwich or will it be a place where high quality and delicious food are the norm? At Piccolo Gourmet, it was the latter.

The feast began with pasta fagioli, a traditional recipe that is thick with canola beans that have been soaked overnight. At Piccolo Gourmet, they use fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and Parmesan and Romano cheeses. Owner Sal Restivo said sometimes they will add proscuitto. The flavor of the soup was robust.

Then came the baci pizza – a thin crust pie topped with homemade smoked mozzarella, pancetta, red onions and baby arugula that is sprinkled with a bit of Parmesan and olive oil. The pies as well as the paninis are made in a wood-burning oven. The baci pie was crisp and chewy and all the flavors combined well, making for a distinctive taste.

Restivo raved about his eggplant caponata so that came next. This luscious combination of eggplant, olives, toasted pignoli nuts and a somewhat sweet tomato sauce came on flat bread from their brick oven. I couldn’t stop eating it.

Their chicken burger was better than any I had ever had. White meat chicken is combined with chopped spinach, feta, onions and seasonings. Restivo says his chicken burger is a favorite for dieters. He’s planning to introduce a southwestern chicken burger with black beans and corn. Since these cooked burgers freeze well, I plan to return to buy some to keep in the home freezer.

The meal was topped with their cappuccino. Restivo uses Gioa coffee from Italy and tops it off with cinnamon and Venchi cocoa powder. The cappuccino held its flavor until the last drop.