The Di Palo Family
DiPalo’s Fine Foods is a salumeria of the Lower East Side that we visited. Upon entering the store, the first thing we noticed were the incredible amount of legs of prosciutto hanging in the windows. What is really interesting is that the store windows are actually aging rooms! 90% of the store’s products are imported from Italy. The remainder of the products are made in America because certain items are not legally allowed to be imported from Italy to the US.
Legs of Prosciutto (Cured Pork)
The store was opened in 1910 as a cheese shop, and Lou DiPalo currently runs it. The store has evolved over the years by expanding its products- they sell various cuts of meat, aged and fresh cheeses, olive oils, vinegars, breads, and a variety of olives. They also sell holiday sweets, like gargantuan chocolate Easter eggs.
Aging Rooms: Window!
The store history is truly an immigrant success story: Lou’s grandfather came to America in the early 1900s during the large period of Italian immigration. He opened the store in the neighborhood of the LES and it was a sort of haven for the Italian immigrants who were comforted by the sights, scents, and tastes of the foods that they left behind in “Il Bel Paese.”
Even though there is new machinery that can help Lou Di Palo process and make his mozzarella cheese, Di Palo still, to this, day, kneads and crafts his cheeses by hand. Watch him make fresh mozzarella:
Italian Bread
Today the store’s customer base includes Italian, Jews, Chinese, and Hispanics, to name a few. Their fresh mozzarella is made daily and is oh-so-delicious! Stepping into the store is like travelling back in time to the 1900s-few things have changed!
Our interview with Mr. DiPalo
