Peter Parrotta is the second generation who owns one of the most iconic shops in the real Little Italy up in the Bronx along Arthur Avenue. As the name of the store implies, the specialty of the house is pork - especially cured pork. If you don't believe us, just look up when you walk into the store. An infinite number of salamis hanging on the ceiling prove that this family owned business is serious about links.
The What:
The Calabria Pork Store makes an instant impression with its "sausage chandelier," perhaps the most Instagrammable spot in NYC, but it earns repeat customers with its house made pork products. This is the place to get soppressata, which is available sweet, hot or very hot as well as 'nduja - a Calabrian specialty that's a seriously spicy and spreadable sausage. They've also got great capicola, culatello, and the best spit roasted porchetta you'll find outside of Rome scented with rosemary and fennel and a parchment thin crispy skin. Another house specialty is Calabrese cheese, a sharp pecorino covered in smoky, hot chilis from the toe of Italy's boot.
Calabria Pork Store is a relic of the days when butcher shops were so specialized that they only would sell one type of meat - pork being the most popular among Southern Italians. All the meat is high quality from trusted farms and butchered in-house daily. The weight of curing sausage that hangs from the ceiling ranges from 7,000 lbs on a slow day to 12,000 lbs on a weekend.
The Why:
Well before giant grocery stores and chain stores took over, local family run businesses were king. That is still alive in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx. Calabria Pork Store is one-of-a-kind and the kind of local businesses we love to support. The intoxicating sausages don't hurt. Visit them on our brand new Arthur Avenue Food Tour and discover the Real Little Italy.
And after the tour, be sure to ask Peter or Rich to make you one of their extraordinary sandwiches to go. You can sit and enjoy it outside in Vincent Ciccarone park while watching a game of bocce ball.
The Where:
Calabria Pork Store,
2338 Arthur Avemue,
Bronx, New York 10458
(718) 367-5145