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Little Italy, Little France
Wednesday August 6, 1997
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My patience and prayers paid off. The mountain came to Mohammed. My shop is back.
In the beginning there was on Gladstone the World of Cheese – and worlds of salami, pasta, sausages. I shopped there weekly until the Nicastro brothers moved to open a supermercato, bigger and better, but on faraway Merivale. My weekly visit became a once-a-month trek and I was often deprived of fresh ricotta. But all has been well since May, 1995, when the Nicastro name reappeared in the ByWard Market (64 George Street).
Although La Bottega is Pat Nicastro’s independent business and not a branch, I still think of it a as the reincarnation of the World of Cheese. A display holds a dozen French and German cheeses, the deli counter stocks more Italian types; you find lover-priced specials at both. Not discounted is buffalo mozzarella, but it still sells out between Friday and Monday – it’s the original from Italy, next to which all other mozzarellas pale.
There’s a whole slew of salamis, hams, cold cuts, fresh sausages (okay, these come from the Merivale store’s butcher), and prosciutto, even prosciutto from Italy.
What? Yes. A few weeks ago our ever-uptight government regulators admitted that Italian pigs are as clean as outs, and allowed the importation of their legs. La Bottega is the first and currently only store carrying the delicacy. It’s pricey, but delicious as the real prosciutto di Parma should be.
A novelty in La Bottega is the lunch counter/café in the back. “We had to put in kitchen equipment to make our sauces, so it made sense to run a kitchen,” explained Pat Nicastro. And how could you reward yourself more in the middle of a strenuous shopping spree in the market than with a calzone.
I like this deli-sized supermercato for its bulging cornucopia of Italian goodies. And I like that I can bicycle there and work off the calories from lat week’s purchases.
By George Pandi for the Ottawa Sun, Today Section
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