Unleash Your Inner Italian

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Photogr aphs by keller & keller
Unleash Your
Inner Italian
A culinary walking tour of Boston’s North
End offers an insider’s view of America’s oldest
Italian neighborhood—plus the chance to
sample such delicacies as prosciutto di Parma
and icy shots of limoncello.
Gaetano Martignetti, one of the
owners of Salumeria Italiana,
imports 400 pounds of ParmigianoReggiano from Italy each month.
Written by Monica Michael Willis
September 2009 .
c oun t ry l i v i ng .c om
. 81
out and about
The North
End Tour
Starts Here
1 Maria’s Pastry Shop
The tour begins at this
family-run bakery, where
locals line up for tiny
marzipan fruit; sfogliatelle
(right), a breakfast pastry
filled with cooked semolina
and ricotta; and the best
cannoli this side of Sicily. (46
Cross Street; 617-523-1196,
northendboston.com/marias)
5 Alba Produce
For the past 15 years, chef Michele
Topor (left) has offered Beantown
visitors a taste of la dolce vita with
her intimate gastronomic tours of
the city’s North End, a small Italian
neighborhood where locals know
the butcher by name and familyrun businesses are the norm. “It’s
a sensual place,” says Topor, “especially if you love food.” Even
though the area measures less than a third of a square mile,
the three-hour tour covers a lot of ground—from a 70-year-old
coffee store and an authentic salumeria to a produce stand
and a bakery, among others. Along the route, shopkeepers
dole out small wedges of ricotta salata and paper-thin slices
of mortadella. By the end of the trip, attendees know how to
select a good, affordable bottle of wine and which canned
tomatoes produce the tastiest red sauce. “I help point people
to the places where they can buy the best, whether it’s bread,
olive oil, or salami,” Topor says. “Sharing delicious food is the
Italian way.” To join one of the regularly scheduled walkabouts,
which run $50 per person, visit northendmarkettours.com
or call 617-523-6032.
82 . countryliving.c om . September 2009
6 Salumeria Italiana
Buy cured meats, cheeses, and
salt-cured olives at the deli
counter, then stock up on fruity
olive oils, balsamic vinegars,
and a wonderland of more than
50 different pastas. (151 Richmond Street; 800-400-5916,
salumeriaitaliana.com)
illustr ation by poul hans l ange
Italy by Way
of Boston...
Some of the freshest fennel bulbs, baby
artichokes, broccoli rabe,
and fava beans await
home cooks who
frequent this North End
vegetable emporium.
Insider tip: Ask to dip
into owner Bruce Alba’s
secret stash of marinated
pickled peppers.
(18 Parmenter Street)
2 Salem Street True
Value Hardware
For the past 45 years, this
utilitarian outpost has sold
stove-top espresso pots,
imported pastamakers, and
pizzelle cookie presses alongside its nuts and bolts and
garden supplies. (89 Salem
Street; 617-523-4759)
3 Polcari’s Coffee
From the looks of the old
photo at the register, not
much has changed at this
grocery since it opened
in 1932. While Polcari’s is
known for fresh-roasted
coffee, it also offers loose
tea, dried herbs, and
Italian candies and baking
extracts. (105 Salem Street;
617-227-0786, northend
boston.com/polcaricoffee)
4 Sulmona Meat Market
Food lovers drive in from the
suburbs just to pick up butterflied
veal chops, thin chicken cutlets,
and fresh, hand-tied pork sausage
(the market’s butchers make 120
pounds a day!) at this 50-year-old
meat mecca. (32A Parmenter
Street; 617-742-2791)
“The North End is a sensual
place, especially if you
love food,” says tour guide
Michele Topor.
3 4
7 V. Cirace & Son
Boasting one of
America’s largest
inventories of Italian
spirits, this 103-yearold liquor store carries
the usual suspects
(Prosecco, Campari)
as well as Sicilian
limoncellos and 300
brands of grappa, a
traditional afterdinner liqueur. (173
North Street; 617-2273193, vcirace.com)
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