Italian market on Young St

[spazita]

Well. I decided to drop into the IM for some cheeses I can't usually find anywhere else. What a major disappiontment! There is basically no deli meat and cheese case the way it was. Cheeses mostly all pre-cut in a separate case; hardly any imported cheese at all. The deli meats were a mess... all in a higglety-pigglety pile. I'm shocked and saddened to see this great difference from the old IM on McCully Street of years gone by. The new owners seem to be putting more emphasis on the prepared foods side of things. Which is a shame, considering most of those offerings looked tired and dried out. I hate to say this, but Pete's is doing a FAR better job of taking care of all their foods. And the prices! Outrageous. You'd think they were downtown at the old hoity-toity Italian Gourmet. So sad. Another great deli that can no longer call itself a deli. RIP "Original Italian Market" :-(

[chilibeanpaste]

spazita

I agree, something's going onat the IM. I feel like I'm in a grocery store in Moscow in the 70's when at the deli counter.

[spazita]

chilibeanpaste

That's the feeling exactly! The lack of responses to my post leads me to believe that not a lot of people who used to go to the old IM go to the new spot. They used to have an outstanding deli, with SO many different meats and cheeses! The service was friendly and well-informed. It was a real gem, and now it's nothing but a sham. Did you see the pieces of Reggiano they were selling? The price is so high, they have to cut them SO thin to make them affordable. A piece of that would disintegrate as soon as you try to grate/shave it over a salad or pasta! Better off using them as (pricey) skipping stones on a lake lol! Surely there must be other CHers out there who have seen this demise of a once great deli?

[hstern]

In the IM's defense, everything in the deli case is fresh and they cut everything properly. The stuff at Pete's is often quite oxidized from sitting in the case too long and the staff regularly messes things up there. I've had paper left on salami too many times and have never seen them trim the prosciutto before slicing. Yuck!

[spazita]

Trust me, it doesn't take very long for the end of a piece of deli meat to oxidize. And the Italians will tell you that you have to have some fat on the prosciutto to balance out the flavour(sweet and salty). That being said there are some prosciutto I have seen with too much fat and a need to trim. The onus lies in training the deli staff to ask how the customer wants their prosciutto trimmed. that still does not excuse the mess of the meats all piled on top of each other and improperly wrapped!. Presentation is everything! How do you think the prepared foods look?

[chilibeanpaste]

Indeed, presentation is everything and if the IM wants to sell deli products they should present it properly. One pair of gloves on the shelf won't sell, put up a rack of 300 pairs and they do - one of the basics of retailing. I know it's hard to do in a city this small but there are tricks of the trade to make a display look far bigger than it is. Even great dummy cheese wheels and the like.

It's surprising an enterprising Italian has not set up shop at the Seaport Market, yet.

[spazita]

Hmmmm... what a great idea! Even though I am not Italian, I do know my way around all Italian food from many years of experience and plain old hard work. Hmmmm...... ;-)