Italian Food Shopping in New York City by Chef Michele Casadei Massari

My restaurant Lucciola, which means firefly in Italian, is in the Upper West Side, just few blocks from Central Park, where some of the biggest fireflies in the world live. I didn’t know it at first, it was a happy coincidence. Lucciola is a place where many of my passions come together, from movies to music and design. I curated every aspect of the space, from sourcing recycled woods for the interiors, to the creation of the wallpaper design. Even the cutlery is the same one I use at home, and I serve the same things I enjoy eating to my guests.

The direction of the cuisine theoretically from Emilia Romagna, where I come from, but in reality it is simply whatever I like to eat. At the moment, I am into Piemonte, partly because I recently bought several magnum bottles of Renato Ratti Barolo, a fantastic wine that I can’t wait to pair with my food. Each of my dishes on my menu is made with five ingredients at most, sometimes only three. I don’t use electric kettles to boil the pasta, nor fryers or electric gas and I don’t make anything that produces a maillard reaction (caused when reducing sugars). I am very coherent on how I approach things, maybe in an obsessive way, and it is reflected in my grocery list.

I go food shopping a few days a week for the menu specials. Today, among other things, I am hunting for duck eggs and duck fat. I don’t serve many meals in my restaurants and I don’t require big quantities, so I really focus on the quality of the ingredients.

I live in Williamsburg, and I pick up what I need on my way to the restaurant. I first stop at a kosher butcher close to my home, it doesn’t have a storefront, somewhere on South 9th and Division street. Kosher chicken is known to be the best, as it comes already brined. I will serve their amazing chicken liver as a paté with truffles on two grilled crostini on a bed of salad with Parmigiano Reggiano, dressed with a 25-year-old aged balsamic vinegar. It will fit perfectly with my new Barolo wine. Close by at the Central Market, I buy za’atar, the middle eastern spice that I will use on an egg salad with white truffles on black rice. In the aromas of white truffles have in facts hints mint and oregano found in the za’atar, and they pair well. Another of my favorite destinations in Brooklyn is the Northside Bakery where I purchase bread for my crostini. I consider this Polish bakery to be the best in New York, I also recommended it to Martha Stewart when I catered for her and she is a fan. I buy ciabatta and a rye bread that I also use for meatballs, bread soup and ribollita, and a napoleon desert with custard that I love. If they are out of bread, which happens on some Fridays and Saturdays, I buy ciabatta from Whole Foods in Union Square, my next shopping destination.

First stop is the Bedford Cheese Shop in Irving Place, where they carry an amazing mostarda mantovana, an Italian condiment made with candied fruit cooked in a mustard-flavored syrup (the Essex Market has a good one as well). I like browsing their assortment, as they always bring in new Italian cheeses such as montasio, taleggio and gorgonzola. Passing through the Union Square Market, I always pay a visit to my friend Beth, who makes the best jams in the Hudson Valley (Beth’s Farm Kitchen). She was one of the first people who supported me when I opened my coffee stand few years back. We also created a chili jam together that worked with many of my dishes.

Today at the market, I will purchase raw honey that will top an amuse-bouche with shipped mascarpone, along with the fresh duck eggs and duck fat. The eggs will be used for my carbonara with truffles, giving it a great color. The duck fat will be used in my potato purée with parmesan cheese, a side to a simple tagliata of beef cooked in the oven with olive oil from Umbria, called Olio Terre Francescane. In the theme of beef, Eataly is my destination for Fassona, exceptional lean meat from Piemonte that I carefully select at the counter. A near-by butcher with great quality meats is Heritage Craft Butchers, in particular for their heritage pork. I also find Trader’s Joe’s ground beef 93% lean to be exceptional when used for tartare or meatballs.

Finally, before heading uptown, I never skip a visit to Venchi chocolate store, where today I will get cocoa nibs to add to my truffled eggs, as they are a healthy addition known to have anti-inflammatory properties.

Before heading to the restaurant in the Upper West Side, I sometimes stop at Barney Greengrass for his salmon pastrami. I purchase some items from my trusted importers of course, like my favorite pasta brands, such as Ricardo Felicetti and Mancini, and Cervia salt, but I can always find these items at Eataly when needed. For ice cream, I am loyal to one brand, Gelarto, available at several retailers. Tonight, I will use it to make a chestnuts Montebianco for dessert.

As told to Carole Hallac

Michele Casadei Massari’s Portrait

Born in Riccione and raised in Bologna Italy, Michele Casadei Massari is an eclectic Italian Executive Chef & Entrepreneur. Operating in New York City since 2008, founder of 4 Piccolo Cafe Restaurants, Founder and Executive Chef of Lucciola Italian Restaurant, Executive Chef of the BiograFilm Food Academy based in Bologna, Executive Chef at Ferrari USA, Advisor & Partner of iwonder Pictures, distribution and film production venture. Michele works as chef and brand ambassador for major brands and personalities.