Top shelf organic farmstead cheese and specialty products from Abruzzo, Italy.
The story goes like this: Bob Marcelli and his family made a family trip to Italy to see where his grandparents were from. Everyone wants to know where their family is from, and he just wanted to really understand. 14 family members went on this trip with 42 pieces of luggage. Needless to say, they overwhelmed the town, who only has 350 people in it.
Bob's family in Italy made cheese and other traditional, artisanal products. Bob, curious to see what his family's cheese tasted like, tried the cheese, and said "You don't just make cheese. You make Cheeeeeeeeese." The real deal. Organic. Farm-fresh. Traditional. No BS.
Bob got the idea in his head to bring this cheese to America, and to grow the business and economy of the town. This was 2004. Like everything, it took time. It took 2 years to convince his cousin in Italy that this was a good idea, and so, he had to came back several times, falling more in love with his family over there.
Bob and his son Andrew spent another year doing the ground work in Abruzzo, figuring out the regulations. As Bob says, "It was like finding gold, but then trying to figure out how do you get it out of there." It's now been 10 years that they've been exporting these products, and their business continues to flourish.
They're best known for their high quality cheeses. They offer sheep's milk pecorino and ricotta. My favorite. They also make cow and goat types as well. Other specialty products include delicious and thick honey, beautiful olive oil, handmade pasta, olive pesto, and rich basil-tomato sauce. Such a cool story of a family business... buying from a family business. Their website carries all of their products and they ship nationally, FYI. You can also find their products at restaurants like Del Posto in NYC; Eataly; The Bedford Cheese Shop; Lucy's Whey; and the Village Cheese Shop to name a few.
When I asked what Bob's most favorite product was that his family makes, he couldn't pick one, as they are "like his kids". His wife just retired and now works full time in the business, and their daughter as well, and Andy (the oldest son) is back working full time as well. His dream for the business is to grow this niche market, and bring the incredible food from unknown regions to chefs, restaurants and homes. It is very satisfying for the Marcelli family to bring these artisanal products to the US market, that wouldn't normally have this exposure to the biggest market in the world. His dream is to just keep building it.
Bob's favorite restaurant in NYC: Del Posto. Not just because they use a lot of their products, but their staff is wonderful and because they are fun to do business with. Right now on their menu it says "Bob Marcelli's Pecorino Flight" on their cheese selection. Nothing cooler than seeing their family name on the menu of one of the best restaurants in NYC.
How does Bob stay healthy amidst all this decadent Italian food? He tells me that he stays healthy by eating the raw milk in their cheese (because it has all the good bacteria), and is also very rich so a little bit goes a long way.
Bob totally inspired me. As, these aren't just products that are in bottles and jars -- Marcelli products are made by families that celebrate family and tradition -- it's the work of their family, and their pride and respect for nature and their perfected recipes.
Marcelli Formaggi
http://marcelliformaggi.com